The world’s first ever flying car was just debuted in Switzerland at an international motor show by Dutch firm PAL-V, CNBC reports. It doesn’t have the retro charm of Doc Brown’s flying DeLorean, nor the spooky sleekness of the cop cruisers in Blade Runner.
Instead, it looks more like a helicopter squatting on a tricycle—a real attention grabber on the 405. Still, points for technological achievement.
PAL-V’s flying car has a top speed of 100 mph on the road and 112 mph in the sky. It can cruise up to 11,000 feet from the earth’s surface—high enough to be of concern to commercial air traffic—and has an estimated range of 350 miles.
But forget any dramatic James Bond-like transitions from earth to air: You have to manually adjust the vehicle to make the transition, kind of like an old school car’s convertible roof, which PAL-V says takes less than 10 minutes.
The flying car comes in two models, the personalized Liberty Pioneer Edition and the standard Liberty Sport Edition—the names a subtle nod to the freedom of the skies—and is available for pre-order now for delivery in 2019.
read more at esquireme.com
