The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Alef Aeronautics’ flying car a Special Airworthiness Certification, allowing the firm to test the vehicle on the road and in the air, according to a press release from the company.
According to Alef’s website, the totally electric car can launch vertically into the air with a flying range of 110 miles and is a low-speed vehicle with a driving range of up to 200 miles on public roads and fits into a standard garage.
The company’s “Model A” vehicle “can fly forward above the obstacles until a desired destination is reached,” according to the San Mateo-based business.
A distinctive gimbaled rotating cabin design stabilises the driver and the cabin.
Alef boasts that the vehicle can fly in any direction and avoid traffic while providing a “cinematic 180 plus degree view for safe and enjoyable flight.”
The car, which can seat up to two passengers and is anticipated to cost roughly $300,000, is available for presale by customers.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Alef Aeronautics’ flying automobile a Special Airworthiness Certification, allowing the business to test the vehicle on the ground and in the air.
The FAA “issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate for the Armada Model Zero aircraft on June 12, 2023,” a spokeswoman for the agency told Fox Business. The aircraft may be operated with this certificate for a few specific tasks, such as exhibition, study, and development. The FAA has previously issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate for a similar aircraft.
Alef originally presented the automobile in October of last year, and since then, it has received a “strong” number of preorders from individuals and companies.
According to the firm, the FAA is developing regulations for the takeoff and landing of electric vehicles.
Alef CEO Jim Dukhovny, who also co-founded the business in 2015, expressed his excitement about receiving this accreditation from the FAA in a statement.
The low-speed, totally electric car can go up to 200 miles on public roads and can fit inside a typical garage. It can also launch vertically into the air and soar 110 miles.
When they realised that 2015 was also the year Marty McFly drove a flying car in “Back to the Future II,” Dukhovny and co-founders Constantine Kisly, Pavel Markin, and Oleg Petrovwere motivated to make a flying car for the first time.
According to the website, Jim Dukhovny discussed the possibility of flying cars in 2015 during one of the Science Fiction seminars.
