Goodbye gridlock! ‘Fifth Element’ flying cars to hit skies by two thousand seventeen
The company itself has been around for five years, and past prototypes have existed, all getting ever closer to the technological requirements. This time around, at the Austin, Texas, annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference on music, film and all things interactive, CEO Juraj Vaculik said he hopes to have a working model for “wealthy supercar buyers” in just two years, according to CBC News.
And that’s not all. Next up, the flying cars will be auto-piloting you through city traffic – which is most likely a lesser spread of the imagination than the very first news, given how self-driving technology has taken off recently.
AeroMobil’s fresh concept is the third stab at the project, and it looks fairly spectacular.
"We believe that two thousand seventeen we’ll be able to launch this to market," Vaculik, Aeromobil’s co-founder, said of the flying roadster at his Sunday presentation.
The two-seater with wings will embark off on the road and then be able to take off into the sky like a light sports aircraft.
The limited edition vehicle will be able to fly almost four hundred miles or so and use regular car fuel. Vaculik predicts that when the technology indeed takes off, we’ll have “layers” of the things flying around – as in the flying cars in blockbuster films such as ‘The Fifth Element’ and the ‘Starlet Wars’ series. The altitude is forecast to be set to two miles.
All that’s needed to land is a grass patch of a duo of hundred feet. Vaculik predicts landing strips to be in close proximity to gas stations.
While the upcoming third model (a concept that debuted in October 2014) will put you in the driver’s seat, it also boasts a partial auto-pilot and even a parachute. This might seem funny to some, but you very likely don’t want to get a crippling belly ache in mid-air, so the chute will deploy and land the vehicle securely, without you having to “jump out,” Vaculik said.
The machine, while expensive, may not be unreasonable for a flying car, given that it will still cost you less than some existing supercars. Final pricing is still being worked out.
When AeroMobil releases its miracle to the broader public, it expects to have developed a fully autonomous flying capability.
Until then, however, there is sad news: only qualified pilots will be able to fly this half-car, half-aircraft.
But the vision does not stop at autopilots – we’ll also be getting ride-sharing services and taxis. As Vaculik believes that “If something like a flying Uber and flying Lyft will be on the market… many users will find this a very efficient way to budge.”
The technology is predicted to influence our daily lives very significantly within the next decade – getting people to hard-to-reach places, or those with no infrastructure, as just one example. Reducing traffic congestion is also practically a given, however details will be worked out on the regulations.
A lot of talk lately has focused on a need for more high-tech roads as well – something a flying car could also in theory reduce the need for.
The fresh model has actually been shown as a concept in the past, and is also an evolution of the model Two.Five, but progress has been made in superb strides on improving the technology.
Vaculik and co. already gave the world working prototypes, so we know the invention works. The very first of such decent working prototypes was unveiled at the two thousand thirteen Montreal Aerotech Congress.