Yahoo Autos 'Flying cars' still aren't ready for takeoff, but automakers keep climbing aboard
Flying cars (and jetpacks) have fascinated the public and press for decades and are a surefire way to get crowds and coverage at an event. At this month’s virtual CES, GM scored big buzz (and a significant stock-price bounce) from its numerous announcements, one of which was unveiling a flying-car concept that carries Cadillac styling cues.
Like most modern so-called “flying cars,” GM’s concept isn’t really designed for roads or being driven at all, but is an autonomous, single-seat, electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle (eVTOL). Dubbed Vertile and just a rendering at this point, GM says it will be powered by a 90-kWh battery and is meant for short-distance travel, reaching a torpid top speed of 56 mph.
Stellantis (née FCA) also jumped on the flying-car bandwagon at CES by announcing a partnership with California-based Archer Aviation to launch what Archer calls “the world's first all-electric airline.” But the Stellantis-Archer eVTOL is designed for shuttling passengers short distances between, say, a city center and outlying airports, not long distances.
These two companies join a fledgling flock of personal-aircraft concepts and partnerships among major automakers. Last year Hyundai displayed in its CES booth an eVTOL designed for four passengers and a pilot, while Toyota announced a nearly $400 million investment in eVTOL piloted air-taxi startup Joby Aviation.
At the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show a few months earlier Mercedes-Benz, trotted out an air taxi developed by its partner, the German company Volocopter, and at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Audi teamed up with Airbus and Italdesign to display an electric and autonomous quadcopter/city car combo. Dubbed the Pop.Up Next, if the car part gets stuck in traffic, the Airbus-developed drone can be summoned via an app to lift the passenger compartment pod, leaving the self-driving chassis and rush hour behind.
