While Google is busy developing self-driving cars for our roads, Aeromobil has been developing flying cars.
Flying cars become a reality in 2014
Back in October 2014, Aeromobil released a video of their flying car in action (the official video is shown below). Of course, this got everyone very excited. Science fiction is pretty much becoming reality in the automotive industry right now.
We featured this as one of our craziest car stories of 2014, not so crazy now it’s a step closer to reality.
Aeromobil looking into self-flying cars
As if the prospect of flying cars wasn’t enough, Aeromobil thought it would just come right out and stun everyone again at South By Southwest 2015 by saying they are working on a self-flying car. I know, we can hardly believe it either.
How much would it cost?
Juraj Vaculik, co-founder and CEO of Aeromobil, announced that their self-flying cars would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, to put them in the same price bracket as supercars or sport aircraft.
So while we can all get excited about the prospect of this new technology, it will very much be the privilege of the rich and famous.
How would it work?
Aeromobil’s self-flying car concept would use much of the already existing technology used in their current Roadster model, whilst using advanced vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology. Google and many other car manufacturers are developing autonomous vehicle technologies, so Aeromobil would build upon these technologies as well.
What’s the point?
Apart from being unbelievably cool, of course, Aermobil’s long-term goal is to reduce inefficiency in journeys.
A flying car would drastically reduce the time it takes to complete what they call a ‘medium’ distance. For example, to complete a 400-mile journey, you would have to factor in getting to the airport, checking in, flight time, and making your way to your final destination.
With Aeromobil’s flying car, the journey time could be almost cut in half.
What’s holding them back?
Aeromobil needs funding. They also need the initial Roadster concept (shown below) to be successful first, before they can start investing time into developing their self-flying car concept.
When can we expect developments?
Aeromobil’s flying car will be put on the market in 2017, so we’ll just have to wait and see if it is successful before they delve further into the self-flying car concept.