BBC News:
At a launch event at Draper University in San Mateo, California, a start-up revealed how its flying car hopes to take off.
Alef bills its still-in-development electric vehicle, the Model A, as the first true flying car – a vehicle that it hopes will look like a sleek electric car but be capable of vertical take-off, and able to fly for 110km (68 miles).
The firm hopes to compete in a market occupied by well-advanced rivals, such as AirCar and the Pal-V gyrocopter that are already flying and driving.
But Jim Dukhovny, Alef’s chief executive and co-founder, argues most existing vehicles are not strictly flying cars in his opinion.
“A flying car has to be a car, which means it can drive on a regular street, park in a regular parking space. And it also should have vertical take-off,” he told the BBC.
“If you require an airport to take-off, what problem are you solving? And why is this a flying car?”
