A Step Closer To The Flying Car - Terrafugia TF-X Ready In 2022 With Vertical Take-Off

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The flying car has been, and it is, one of modern humanity's technological dreams since the early 1900s, when the great visionaries of the automotive world put the first car on wheels. Technological progress is relatively slow, until 2000 at least, and the legal problems that such an invention would have had stopped in the bud the few attempts.

But 2009 brought to the forefront a company that promised to produce a series flying car. Obviously there is no clear deadline for the launch, but the Americans from Terrafugia, a company formed by engineers and scientists gathered around the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), presented the Transition concept, as a variant closer in terms of technology of what could become a flying car.

Currently, there are only two companies seriously involved with launching a flying car - Aeromobil and Terrafugia.This car could transport passengers to their destination via air when this is reasonably possible. The Transition concept made en ough waves in the press, especially because the technology boom started to become a serious one, thanks to the explosion of the Internet and personal gadgets.

Well, Terrafugia continues to research and develop the idea of flying car, and in 2015 their new product has a different name: TF-X. The new concept is an evolved one and company representatives say it is very close to a possible series production, if this will be legalized in the near future.

But powertrain solutions and performance of the new Terrafugia TF-X are the ones that impress: the flying car has a hybrid propulsion system, which spins the wheels on the asphalt and the rotors with which it flies when airborn. The air autonomy of the Terrafugia TF-X is 800 kilometers (500 miles) and takeoff is done vertically (like helicopters do today), which means that TF-X does not need a runway.

Although Terrafugia has not provided data about the maximum air speed, it is likely that we are talking about figures better than those of the Transition, the first concept of the company, which announced three years ago a speed of 160 kilometers per hour – 100 mph (it had been rumored to be at about 322 km/h – 200 mph).

If the first thing you think when you hear of such a car is linked in any way to how it can be piloted when in the air, everything is solved simply by the producing company: Terrafugia TF-X has fully autonomous flight, which means that it avoids the p roblems of potential traffic, recognizes areas where the weather is not favorable for flight, knows restricted air zones and it does an automatic landing instead of the driver-pilot. If unforeseen circumstances arise that could endanger the lives of passengers, the Terrafugia TF-X also has a complete parachute system which solves the problem of forced landing without damage.Most likely future owners of these cars will not need a pilot's license, which is necessary for the flying car from Aeromobil.

Even if Terrafugia claims that the TF-X's design it is ready for production, the actual development of the car will take at least eight years, which means that flying cars could be seen on the roads and possibly in the air no earlier than 2022.

There is no official price, but first information from the company revolves around a sum that rivals that of a luxury car, so around or above 300,000 euros.

Source: A Step Closer To The Flying Car - Terrafugia TF-X Ready In 2022 With Vertical Take-Off