Slovak roadable aircraft developer AeroMobil aims to have the first flying car on the road (and in the sky) by 2017, the company’s CEO Juraj Vaculik revealed at South-by-Southwest (SXSW), with the promise of an automated version to follow.
Vaculik believes that personal transportation is overdue a reinvention, and that driverless flying cars will usher in a revolution.
The current prototype of Vaculik’s flying car, the AeroMobil 3.0, is not a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) craft, so demands a runway to take-off and land, so its practicality is limited. The AeroMobil’s functionality would need local governments to build flying car runways and free up airspace, while drivers would, of course, require a pilot’s licence.
That’s not to say that the craft is being aimed at the average consumer: AeroMobil will target the wealthy, since the two-seater vehicle will cost over €200,000 when released in 2017, according to Vaculik. A four-seater driverless version is penciled in for release soon after.
Source: TechSpot
