Great Scott! A flying car prototype built by the American tech company Alef Aeronautics (AA) has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

The actual model based on the prototype is due to be released in 2025 and for a cool $300,000 it could be yours. Alef Aeronautics is already taking pre-orders on its website and you can join the queue for $150. 

AA claims it has been working on a prototype since 2015 and has received funding from Musk’s SpaceX, among others. 

However, its measly budget of $2.36 million falls way behind its Chinese rivals XPeng Aeroht which has around $200 million at its disposal to beat the Americans to it. 

According to AA’s CO Jim Dukhovny, the Model A can be driven like a car – it has four wheels and an on-road range of 200 miles, although this will be limited to slow speeds of up to 25-30mph. If you want to go faster, then you must fly. If you want to move in any direction other than directly up, the car will have to tilt on its side as that’s where the rotor blades are. But worry not! The cabin contains a special mechanism to always keep the passengers upright. 

Although flying cars are often seen as the hallmark of the future, they are not a new idea. In the 1890s, the French company Au Bon Marche released a postcard with a picture of a flying car. In 1904, Jules Verne’s novel Master of the World contained a magical vehicle called the “Terror” which was simultaneously a car, a boat, and an aircraft that “dart[s] through space with a speed… superior to that of the largest birds.” 

In 1926, Henry Ford’s “Flivver” single-seat aircraft which was billed as the “Model T of the Air” met a disastrous end as the prototype crashed into the ocean off the coast of Florida. The project was never revived. In 1947, the Convair AirCar prototype ran out of fuel in mid-air killing the pilot. Despite Moulton Taylor’s Aerocar making a groundbreaking successful flight in 1949, investors were hesitant due to previous disasters and it never went into mass production.

From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Harry Potter via Back to the Future, flying cars have tantalised the popular imagination. But after the FAA’s recent approval, imagination may become reality sooner than many anticipated. 

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