Your flying car is almost here |
Your flying car is almost here
Electric vertical takeoff aircraft, regulatory momentum, and billions in investment are pushing urban air mobility closer to reality
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Humanity has been promised a flying car for about as long as it has had cars in general. The dream has shown up in science fiction, world's fair exhibits, and a steady stream of prototypes that made headlines and then quietly disappeared.
The gap between the promise and the product has always been the same story. The technology wasn't good enough. The regulations weren't ready. The money wasn't there.
All three are currently moving in the right direction. That doesn't mean your commute is about to leave the ground. But it does mean the industry is closer to delivering us the future that has been promised to us for years.
The dream has a long paper trail
The vehicles at the center of today's moment are called eVTOLs, short for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. They are not planes, which need runways, or helicopters, which are loud, fuel-hungry, and mechanically complex. They are not cars that sprout wings.
Instead, they look something like an oversized camera drone, lifted by multiple rotors........