Hoversurf Formula: a 3D printed flying car that costs under $100K

Nov 2, 2017 | By Benedict

Hoversurf, a futuristic vehicle company based in San Francisco and Moscow, has unveiled "Formula," a revolutionary flying car made with 3D printed carbon fiber and metal. The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle seats five, and could be in the air by 2018.

Well, here's a surprising one. Here I was thinking that ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft were the future of transport, but it turns out I was wrong. The future of transport—in Russia, at least—is 3D printed flying taxis that can hover above traffic jams and get you from A to B faster than you can say "replicant."

Hoversurf, a transport tech company based in San Francisco and Moscow (and with a production facility coming soon to Dubai), has unveiled "Formula," a revolutionary flying car concept made with 3D printed carbon fiber and metal parts. It's a culmination of the company's years of drone-making experience, and it could be ready to fly as soon as mid-2018.

"Do you know the problem with all flying car projects?" Hoversurf asks. "They're all made for the future. They're impossible to park and impractical for daily use. Formula was created for the present day and will quickly and seamlessly become a part of your everyday life."

It sounds exciting, and the justification for Formula's superiority actually sounds fairly convincing. According to Hoversurf, Formula combines the best aspects of helicopters and airplanes, without any of the risks associated with typical S/VTOL aircraft that use rotary engines.

This is because the copter elements of the Formula work entirely independently from the plane elements, meaning neither a malfunction of the wings nor the turbines will stop the aircraft being able to land.

In terms of specifications, Hoversurf says the Formula will be able to fly with a range of up to 450 km, at speeds of up to 320 kmh. Quiet and eco-friendly, the partially 3D printed Formula aircraft is even surprisingly practical: it's designed to fit into standard car parking spaces, and seats five just like a regular car.

In every other sense, however, the Formula flying car isn't much like your average automobile at all. It's powered by 52 turbine propulsion units and 48 electric thrusters, and has fold-away wings for easy parking. It also uses a form of 3D vision technology to help it navigate.

The turbines of the flying vehicle work using the "Venturi effect," which means that "ordinary atmospheric air is drawn into the turbine outlet by injection, creating an additional flow and reducing the noise of a high-speed jet flow inside the low-speed flow."

At present, the Formula is just at its concept stage, but Hoversurf says it is "finishing all calculations" needed to complete the first prototype. If all goes to plan, the Formula 3D printed flying car could be airborne as soon as mid-2018.

There's good reason to believe in the ambitious company too: its investors include payment platform Qiwi Wallet, Russia's Vnesheconombank, and venture capital firm Starta Capital.

The company estimates that the Formula flying car will cost $97,000, slightly less than the Tesla Model S.

Other weird and wonderful vehicle projects undertaken by Hoversurf include the Scorpion 3 Hoverbike—"an extreme sports machine for those who are not afraid of height and speed"—and the Scorpion 3 Cargo drone, which has a max lifting capacity of 150 kg.

Check out the Formula project here.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

Maybe you also like:

Source: Hoversurf Formula: a 3D printed flying car that costs under $100K