Nother CarGuy

Flying cars are all the rage these days so it comes as little surprise that Audi has joined forces with Airbus and Italdesign to unveil the Pop.Up Next concept at the Geneva Motor Show. Billed as an “entirely electric, fully automatic concept for horizontal and vertical mobility,” the model is an evolution of the previous Pop.Up and is based around an ultra-lightweight two-seat passenger cabin that can be attached to either a car module or a flight module. In order to fly, the car is attached to a drone-like structure which features four pods housing eight helicopter blades. Each blade is powered by a 26 hp (20 kW) electric motor which is feed energy from a 70 kWh battery pack. This setup gives the flight module a combined output of 214 hp (160 kW). It enables the module to hit a top speed of 74 mph (120 km/h) and travel up to 31 miles (50 km) before needing to stop for a 15 minute recharge. The car module is a skateboard-like platform that houses a 15 kWh battery and two e...

PAL-V will use the Geneva Motor Show to introduce what it is claiming to be the “world’s first flying car” in production guise. Billed as a “historic breakthrough in the evolution of flying cars,” the PAL-V Liberty is a three-wheeled vehicle which can be transformed into a gyroplane / gyrocopter in about 5 to 10 minutes. The company didn’t release detailed specifications but confirmed the model uses two Rotax aircraft engines and has been designed to meet both vehicle and aircraft specifications in Europe as well as the United States. Following its unveiling in Geneva, the Liberty will go through the last stage of the certification process which is compliance demonstration. The company expects this will be completed in 2019 and the model will then be fully certified. The company’s flying car has been in development for at least ten years as PAL-V created a proof of concept back in 2008. The model underwent driving tests before starting flight testing in 2011. In ...

Uber is hoping to break its streak of bad news by announcing plans to launch its much-hyped flying taxi service in 2020. Announced at the Elevate conference in Dallas today, the ride-hailing giant has teamed up with the cities of Dallas-Fort Worth and Dubai to begin the new initiative. The Verge reports Uber will also be working with Hilwood Properties to identity potential heliports, dubbed “vertiports" in Uber speak, for the service in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The company has partnered with five different manufacturers to design and develop vertical takeoff and landing aircrafts which are lightweight and electrically powered. Before you decide to write the idea off, there are some big names involved including Bell Helicopters and Embraer. Unlike traditional flights, the service promises to be relatively affordable as Uber Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden told Reuters the company can get costs down to "$1.32 per passenger mile" in early operations. That mak...

The Liberty Pioneer and Liberty Sport flying cars from Dutch company PAL-V will debut at Top Marques Monaco later this month. The first official images of the finished product were released in February but Top Marques will be the first time the car has been shown in 1 to 1 scale to customers and the public alike. It will be presented on the 20th of April by Prince Albert of Monaco. PAL-V says the Liberty flying car is compliant with safety regulations around the world and initially, 90 examples of the Pioneer Edition will be produced, each priced at $599,000. At a later date, the entry-level $400,00 PAL-V Liberty Sport will hit the market. The ins and outs of the Liberty’s powertrain aren’t known, but PAL-V says it is technically a gyroplane even though it more closely resembles a helicopter. Speaking about the vehicle, PAL-V chief executive Robert Dingemanse said “After years of hard work, beating the technical and qualification challenges, our team succeeded in creating an...