Flying Cars

Israel's Urban Aeronautics (UA) has announced it's going into full-scale development of its CityHawk VTOL flying car. The first manned flights of this hybrid-powered, 170 mph six-seater will take place in 2021-22, after which it'll be converted to run on hydrogen fuel cells.

​According to a just-issued press release from Terrafugia, the first production models of its Transition flying car should be on the market as of next year. When and if they do indeed arrive, they will now be sporting a hybrid drive system – among other newly-announced features.

​As successful as the Rolls-Royce name has been in luxury cars, it's been far bigger in aeronautics. So when these guys announce a four- to five-passenger hybrid electric/turbine VTOL aircraft with a 250-mph top speed and a 500-mile range, it's worth listening.

Canadian-based aviation firm Opener Inc. has unveiled its new BlackFly single-seater aircraft, which it bills as a Personal Aerial Vehicle (PAV) and the world’s first ultralight all-electric fixed-wing Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft.

Today we get our first look at the production-ready Flyer from Kitty Hawk, a 10-rotor, single seater sport and leisure multicopter that gives pilots around 20 minutes of flying saucer fun at altitudes up to 10 feet. Check out photos and videos of the Flyer in action!

Not to be pinned down by its continuing troubles here on the ground, Uber is pushing ahead with its flying taxi ambitions at its Elevate conference in LA this week. Among the news to trickle out of the event is a new deal with NASA, along with some flashy new concepts.

​​The flying taxi scene is now a bustling place, but some are moving faster than others. Workhorse first unveiled its Surefly flying car at the Paris Air Show in June last year, and has now sent it into the air with a person inside for the first time.

For more than a decade, Terrafugia has been testing the VTOL aircraft waters with a variety of flying taxi designs. And this old dog has new tricks in it yet, with a new concept dubbed the TF-2 that features a detachable pod for on-ground transit to and from the launchpad.​

​Like Terrafugia and Pal-V, AeroMobil has developed a flying car/roadable aircraft that requires a runway in order to take off and land. This Wednesday, however, the company announced its plans for an electric VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) model.

The quest to become the world's first commercially available flying car​ grew hotter this week when the first production-ready flying car​ was shown at the Geneva Motor Show. The 90-only, limited-edition PAL-V​ Pioneer will cost $600,000 and the Liberty Sport edition comes in at $400,000​.​ ​

Flying taxis still seem very much like something pulled right out of science fiction, but when transport heavyweights like Boeing, Airbus and Uber start pumping millions of dollars into their development, it might be time to take all of this a bit more seriously.

​Ehang has been a little coy about its taxi drone since bringing a grounded prototype to CES in 2016. Today we've gotten our best look yet at the Ehang 184, with footage for the first time showing it carrying out test flights with people onboard.