Klein Vision’s two-seat flying car goes on sale next year and is faster in the air than on the ground
2 hours ago
- Slovakia-based Klein Vision is putting its AirCar flying car into production next year.
- The two-seater is limited to 124 mph on land but can hit 155 mph in airplane mode.
- Wings that store behind the driver for road use extend to give a 27-ft wingspan.
Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. So claimed Back to the Future’s Doc Brown as he, Marty and Jennifer prepared to take to the skies in his freshly upgraded flying DeLorean. But starting next year the AirCar, the world’s first production flying car, will give you the choice of using both for around the price of a well-specced Lamborghini Revuelto.
We’ve been writing about Klein Vision’s AirCar for five years now and watched it take off and fly without crashing. But making a prototype is one thing and putting it into production something different altogether. Now, though, the Slovakia-based company has revealed images of the production model, and its co-founder told Top Gear it’ll be on sale next year for around $800,000.
More: BMW-Powered AirCar Proved That Production Flying Cars Might Be Closer To Reality Than Ever Before
Compared with the original test car/plane, the renderings show a machine with a longer windshield giving the impression of a shorter front overhang. The headlights in the fenders are replaced by sawtooth vents and the lights move to the front, but the overall shape, giant rear wing configuration and centrally-mounted propeller remain mostly unchanged. It still looks like a mashup of 1980s Group C racer and WWII-era Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
What has changed, Klein says, is the engine setup. Previously listed as a 1.6-liter BMW unit, the AirCar’s power unit now comes from a South African supplier and makes 276 hp (280 PS), though Top Gear claims 316 hp (320 PS) and 335 hp (340 PS) versions are on the options menu. The lightweight 1,764 lbs (800 kg) AirCar maxes out at 124 mph (200 km/h) on the road but can reach 155 mph (250 km/h) in the sky.
Converting a limo-length (19 ft/5.8 m) coupe to an aircraft with a 27 ft (8.2 m) wingspan involves a two-minute wait while the wings are unfolded, so it’s not like dropping the top on a modern cabrio, and the lack of a pressurized cabin means you’re limited to an altitude of 10,000 ft (3,050 m). But that’s not much lower than the realistic peak altitude of the Cessna Skyhawk you could buy for the same money. And you can’t drive the Cessna home once you’ve touched down, can you?
The AirCar might sound like a very niche proposition, but Klein Vision says the air mobility industry is predicted to be worth $162 billion by 2034 and thinks its flying car won’t only be bought by rich playboys who’ve tired of trackdays, but by taxi firms as well. Guess the fares will be pricey thus their target audience, at least in the foreseeable future, won’t be the hoi polloi but one percenters – so that would make it the uber-Uber, then.
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