AeroMobil flying car will be available in 2020, says spokesman

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the flying car is coming.

It's been promised since early last century – a Holy Grail of personal mobility, a freedom machine to allow the lucky few to sail over the gridlocked many.

Hundreds of prototypes have been built over those years with a remarkably consistent degree of success. Which is to say, almost none.

However, at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show there were three very different flying vehicles all said to be near production.

"This represents our production vehicle which will be available for our first customers in 2020," says AeroMobil spokesman Stefan Vadocz.

Although he agrees that any flying car is bound to be greeted with scepticism, he argues this one has already impressed on the ground and in the air, and now has full European regulatory approval.

"The technology has come to the point where availability of lightweight materials is widespread, and the power density of the engines is becoming better and better," says Vadocz. "So the technology is available to produce very reliable and safe flying cars. I think the dream will come true in the coming years and we will see many of these vehicles around."

Vadocz says unlike drone-style vehicles, the AeroMobil is designed to be fun, not just functional. According to the literature, the six-metre-long vehicle will drive on batteries at speeds of up to 160km/h.

When flying it uses its 224kW turbocharged petrol engine to drive a propeller. It's capable of short take-off and landing, and can cover 1000 kilometres in one hop.

A downside might be the price: it is likely to cost more than $2 million (the official estimate is "between €1.2 and €1.5 million"), enough to buy a plane and a car.

The upside is you'll almost certainly be the only person on the street to have one.

Source: AeroMobil flying car will be available in 2020, says spokesman