{"id":94863,"date":"2024-07-15T11:22:26","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T11:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/15\/where-are-the-flying-cars\/"},"modified":"2024-07-15T11:22:26","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T11:22:26","slug":"where-are-the-flying-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/15\/where-are-the-flying-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Where are the flying cars?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Where<\/div>


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Kids like Tola Martins in Disney\u2019s Iw\u00e1j\u00fa <\/em>don\u2019t drive to school, they fly. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley pulled a similar stunt when they missed the train to Hogwarts. As did Flint Lockwood when he had to stop a giant spaghetti storm in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs<\/em>.  <\/p>\n

Flying cars have soared through sci-fi and fantasy stories since the early 1900s. But they\u2019re not flying across our actual skies. At least, not yet. And if they do someday become commonplace, they might look a bit different than in the movies. <\/p>\n

Prototypes for flying cars (such as this EH216-S) often rely on propellers, rather than wings, for lift. This allows the vehicles to take off vertically, like a helicopter, instead of needing an airplane\u2019s long runway.<\/span>\u202fTomohiro Ohsumi\/Stringer\/Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The technology to make flying cars already exists, says Xiaosong Du. He\u2019s an aerospace engineer at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. Hundreds of companies, such as Terrafugia, are working to make flying cars a reality. Some have even flown prototypes, such as Joby Aviation\u2019s air taxi and Airbus\u2019 Vahana.\u202f <\/p>\n

The key to making flying cars work is a combination of helicopter and airplane technology, Du says. It would not be very practical for flying cars to take off like airplanes. For that, they\u2019d need runways, which would take up lots of space. Instead, a flying car would take off vertically, like a helicopter. Rotating blades would chop through the air, generating a force known as lift to bring the vehicle off the ground. <\/p>\n

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Electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, known as eVTOLs, might be used as flying taxis in the future. Joby\u2019s electric aircraft can fly four passengers about 240 kilometers (150 miles).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOnce it’s completed takeoff,\u201d Du says, \u201cyou can fly like a normal airplane.\u201d Airplane wings could rotate out from the body of the aircraft, allowing for flight with less air resistance than a helicopter experiences.  <\/p>\n

Another option is to attach propellers to a flying car\u2019s wings. At first, the wings would be tilted upwards, so that the propellers could lift the vehicle. Then, once the car takes off, the wings would tilt to lay flat, like those on a normal airplane, says Pat Anderson. \u201cIt\u2019s like a Transformer.\u201d Anderson is the former director of the Eagle Flight Research Center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. <\/p>\n

Vehicles with rotating blades and propellers don’t sound much like the flying cars of science fiction. They don\u2019t even sound much like cars. Instead, these vehicles would look more like the two-winged choppers that military personnel pilot around Pandora in the Avatar<\/em> movies, Anderson says.\u202f <\/p>\n

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Another eVTOL, Airbus\u2019 Vahana, has flown over 100 test flights so far and is up to four times faster than regular cars, the company says.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, building airborne cars is about more than just bringing sci-fi to life. It\u2019s about using more of the available space in the world to get people where they need to go. Today\u2019s drivers can only travel in two dimensions: north-south and east-west. Flying cars could unlock a third dimension: up-down. Imagine a world where you could beat rush-hour traffic by simply lifting off the ground and zooming over the other drivers.  <\/p>\n

This could be especially useful as the world\u2019s population continues to grow. \u201cI think that, eventually, we will see a day where we use the third dimension to help us get around,\u201d Anderson says. \u201cOtherwise, [Earth is] going to be a pretty congested place.\u201d <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the holdup? <\/h2>\n

One of the biggest barriers to people commuting in flying cars is expense. The company Alef Aeronautics, for instance, plans to sell personal cars that can drive on roads and take off into the skies. These cars look and function similarly to those in many science fiction movies, but they come with a steep price tag. When they go into production as early as next year, the cars will likely cost around $300,000 each.  <\/p>\n

A handful of wealthy people may own cars like these, Anderson says. But most people could never afford one. Even repair costs would be much more expensive than for a normal car. \u201cIf you get in a fender bender, you just destroyed an airplane instead of a car,\u201d Anderson says. <\/p>\n

But average people may still ride in flying vehicles one day. Anderson imagines that a rideshare service for flying cars \u2014 something like Uber or Lyft for the skies \u2014 may be more practical than everyone owning one. <\/p>\n

Even though some companies plan to release cars sooner, flying Ubers probably won\u2019t be common for 10 or 20 years, Anderson says. First, aircraft need to be tested over and over for safety. And the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will need to create regulations for flying cars. Rules of the road aren\u2019t enough. Flying cars will need rules of the sky. \u201cYou don’t want airplanes falling on top of other people and hurting them,\u201d Anderson says. <\/p>\n

Du agrees that \u201creliability and safety are the key topics\u201d now for making flying cars a reality.  <\/p>\n

Powering flying taxis is another holdup. Because of their sustainability, \u201cpeople are kind of in love with batteries,\u201d Anderson says. But batteries are heavy, and \u2014 like those in electric cars \u2014 have a limited range.  <\/p>\n