77AeroMobil
4. 0
Roadable aircraft from
Bratislava, Slovakia. Internal
combustion boxer engine
with FADEC digital-control
unit. Hybrid-electric
front-wheel-drive system.
Full airframe parachute.
Folds from plane to car
in 3 minutes. Expected
availability: 2020-2021.Terrafugia
Transition
Two-passenger roadable
aircraft from Woburn,
Massachusetts. Powered
by 100-hp Rotax 912iS
four-cylinder; hybrid-electric
motors in drive mode.
Requires sport pilot’s license.
Full airframe parachute.
Runs on automotive gas.
Maximum airspeed: 100 mph.
Now part of the Chinese
conglomerate that also
owns Volvo and Lotus.Top PAV
Players
FLAIR PLANES
AeroMobil’s 5.0 eVTOL
concept (above); the two-seat
4.0 (below and opening) is a
short-takeoff supercar.all around the world, from São Paolo, Brazil—where they are
testing an affordable helicopter service—to Singapore, with
their ‘skyways’ project for goods delivery by drones.”
Vaculík acknowledges that the grail is a fully autonomous,
electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehi-
cle—which he believes might be achievable by 2030-2035.
Meantime, chairman Patrick Hessel says of his company’s
AeroMobil 4.0, “We are starting out with a ‘supercar with
superpowers,’ a two-seater with a beautiful design that drives
like a normal car and is easy to fly.” Hessel says the 4.0, a short
takeoff and landing (STOL) machine available for preorder
since 2017 with first deliveries expected around 2020, will be
designed for “aviators who want a unique flying experience
and supercar buyers who appreciate the quality engineering
and design concept.” Cost: about $1.2 million. Hessel says
AeroMobil’s next product, the 5.0, “will be a VTOL vehicle,
and it will provide a unique mode of transport across urban
and intercity routes. Imagine a taxi picking you up in front of
your house, driving you to the closest vertiport, flying you
to your destination, then driving you to your final stop.”
AeroMobil hopes to launch the 5.0 by 2025.