Fed up with being stuck in traffic jams? Soon you could fly right over other cars in a $300,000 electric car. Alef Aeronautics’ futuristic vehicle can be driven around like a normal car on the streets, but it’s also packed with propellers in the trunk that allow it to take off at any time to skip lines of traffic. This week, the company successfully tested the flying car in a city environment for the first time. Incredible footage shows the car driving forward a few feet, before taking off vertically. It then glides through the air over the car in front of it, before landing on the ground and driving off. The drive and flight test represent proof of technology in a real-world environment. The test was conducted on an unidentified public street that had been closed off. According to Alef, the video is the first in history to show a car both driving and vertically taking off. While the test was carried out with a special, ultralight version of the Alef Model Zero, the Model A flying car will eventually be a two-seater with a road range of 200 miles and a flying range of 110 miles. The carbon-fiber frame — which measures 17 feet long by 17 feet wide — is designed to fit into any parking space or garage. To drive on the road, the car uses four small engines in each of the wheels and will drive similar to a normal electric car. This leaves space in the front and the back for eight propellers that spin independently at different speeds to allow it to fly in any direction. Its cruising speed in the air is 110mph, while on the road it will be limited to between 25mph and 35mph, despite being able to go far faster. It’s relatively simple to use and takes an average of 15 minutes to learn. Alef says the cost will likely be closer to $31,600 when built to scale.
