We’ve come across many companies debuting futuristic designs of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Some have even tested (see: here & here) and/or have begun selling eVTOLs on the market (see: here). But when it comes to a driveable eVTOL, Alef Aeronautics has a revolutionary design.
California-based Alef is the only eVTOL with street-driving capabilities. Alef’s Model A prototype was first unveiled last Wednesday.
The Alef Model A is not a distant dream, expected to enter series production with first deliveries in 4Q25. The cost of the eVTOL that drives on roads and soars over traffic starts at around $300,000. It has a driving range of 200 miles and flies about 110 miles.
Reuters said, “The unusual appearance—which features a body that flips on its side to become the wing after lift-off—is just one aspect that attracted Tim Draper, an early investor in Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc and SpaceX whose Draper Associates Fund V has backed Alef with $3 million in seed money.”
Draper told Reuters via email: “The design is extraordinary. The sides of the car become the wings when the plane goes horizontal.”
In a company release, Alef’s CEO, Jim Dukhovny, said the eVTOL is a “modern solution for both urban and rural transportation needs in the 21st century because it is the fastest and most convenient transport ever created from the point of origin to the final destination. By enabling consumers to choose driving or flying mode, the Alef flying car allows the optimal path depending on road conditions, weather and infrastructure.”
Dukhovny told CNET: “We can actually solve all traffic in the world for the next hundred years.”
… and there goes Elon Musk’s idea of building tunnels to reduce major cities’ traffic congestion problems.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 10/26/2022 – 22:25
