The world’s first flying car made by Alef Aeronautics was unveiled at Detroit’s Auto Show. A prototype of the car was unveiled earlier in front of the world after the automobile had received legal approval in June this year. After receiving the legal approval in the US, Jim Dukhovny, founder and CEO of the company had said, “It allows us to move closer to bringing people an environmentally friendly and faster commute, saving individuals and companies hours each week. This is one small step for planes, one giant step for cars.”
The flying automobile which can fit 2 people costs around $299,999 (around 2.46 crores INR). The car is said to be fully electric and will have a driving capacity of upto 200 miles while on road and a flying range of 110 miles while in the air. The automobile cabin is engineered in such a way that the driver will be stable as the car flies, whereas the passengers will be able to enjoy a 180 plus degree view which is being claimed by the company.
The automobile company's founder and CEO Jim Dukhovny shared that the unveiled is not the final consumer version. “It’s still not the final consumer version. But at this point, it’s pretty close,” Dukhovny told Robb Report. “I can teach you how to fly and drive this in about 15 minutes or less,” claimed Dukhovny. “If you can tell the difference between the right, left, up, down, front and back, you can do this. It’s pretty much the only controls it has,” he added.
Flying car would solve the traffic woes :
It should also be noted that the car had received a Special Airworthiness Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration in June this year due to which the company will be able to test the car on the road as well as in the air. Alef Aeronautics had started the presales for the automobile in 2022 and had received nearly 500 bookings. Dukhovny, the founder and CEO of the company envisions that the flying car would solve the traffic woes but he is of late also looking at the possibility of other uses.
In an August post on "X"(formerly Twitter), Dukhovny asked netizens to give suggestions about his company and the flying automobile. “What do you suggest about the About @AlefAeronautic. Drop your suggestions,” Dukhovny had tweeted.
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