The motor industry presently seems fixated on bringing driverless vehicles to roads, however some are looking things beyond that to a point where vehicles might be able to do without roads as frequently as they can cope without a human driving them. Mainly, flying cars have always been the stuff of comics and dream visions of what the future holds for us.
But now it appears some individuals and companies are taking the concept of flying vehicles entirely more seriously. Including Volvo’s parent company Geely Holding Group, which has acquired the startup service behind what is usually concerned to be presently the world’s most appealing flying car concept.
Geely Holding has bought out Terrafugia, and the flying car it’s responsible for is appropriately called the Transition. Terrafugia is currently the company that has so far come the closest to developing flying cars a truth, and now with the considerably deeper pockets of Geely, it does raise the prospect of people soon seeing Volvos with wings flying high above the highways.
Indeed, there are other companies trying out the futuristic car/plane hybrid vehicles, however Terrafugia is can be said to be the first to develop what can be seen as a genuinely persuading working prototype.
This outstanding vertical take-off and landing development is a much sleeker, more refined and persuading vehicle than any of its competitors, and Terrafugia’s Transition has an outstanding cruising range of around 400 miles and a 100 mph top speed. A full-vehicle parachute is released to bring the car down to earth and safely onto the road, and there’s also an advanced autonomous flight technology on-board to avoid Transition pilots from crashing.
If anybody is still not persuaded and believes this is more of a fantasy than a serious undertaking, it’s worth noting the Transition is among the few vehicles of its type to be provided Federal Aviation Administration approval, which lets the changing vehicle be licensed as a Light Sport Airplane.
Terrafugia has for that reason been given approved to develop a road- and air-legal automobile weighing up to 1,800 pounds, which has actually now resulted in the startup becoming a valuable purchase for Geely Holding.
