Will the Terrafugia flying car be the future of transportation?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Astronuc
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Car Flying
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of flying cars, specifically focusing on the Terrafugia model and recent developments in hybrid flying vehicles. Participants explore various aspects of flying cars, including their feasibility, technological advancements, and potential future in transportation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions a recent test flight of a hybrid flying car, AirCar, which completed a 35-minute flight and can transform from car to aircraft in just over two minutes.
  • Concerns are raised about the operational conditions of flying cars, such as their performance in downdrafts and whether they are suitable for all weather conditions.
  • Another participant notes the current status of Terrafugia, highlighting layoffs and the transfer of its development to China, raising questions about the company's future.
  • There is a humorous remark about electric flying cars having limited range due to the need for an extension cord.
  • One participant expresses interest in future nuclear fusion models that could potentially gather fuel from the air, suggesting a speculative view on the evolution of flying car technology.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of opinions on the viability and future of flying cars, with no clear consensus on their practicality or the direction of Terrafugia's development. Multiple competing views regarding the technology and its implications remain present.

Contextual Notes

Some discussions include speculative ideas about future technologies, such as nuclear fusion-powered flying cars, which are not currently established or widely accepted. The conversation also reflects uncertainty regarding the operational capabilities of existing models under various conditions.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in emerging transportation technologies, aviation enthusiasts, and those following developments in hybrid and electric vehicle innovations may find this discussion relevant.

Astronuc
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
2025 Award
Messages
22,514
Reaction score
7,452
There once was a thread, a short thread, about a flying car.

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/flying-car.413351/

Move forward 11 years, and a Flying car completes test flight between airports

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57651843
A prototype flying car has completed a 35-minute flight between international airports in Nitra and Bratislava, Slovakia.
The hybrid car-aircraft, AirCar, is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel.
Its creator, Prof Stefan Klein, said it could fly about 1,000km (600 miles), at a height of 8,200ft (2,500m), and had clocked up 40 hours in the air so far.
It takes two minutes and 15 seconds to transform from car into aircraft.
I wonder if they've tested in down draft, or perhaps it's a fair weather vehicle. I wonder if it comes in convertible option. Well, I guess it is a convertible of sorts.

Terrafugia is apparently still a thing ( https://terrafugia.com/ ), although maybe it was - https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericte...-flying-car-was-faa-approved/?sh=20ac51472b3a
Two sources with knowledge of the situation say that roughly 80 to 100 employees at the company’s headquarters in Woburn, Mass., have been let go, and that Terrafugia’s intellectual property and further development of the Transition, a light sport airplane designed to be drivable on roads, are being moved to China by owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which bought the company in 2017.

Peter Schmidt, co-founder and COO of the Boston-based hybrid VTOL aircraft startup Transcend Air, says he heard from ex-Terrafugia employees and a Terrafugia supplier that “over 100 people were walked off [Terrafugia’s campus] and told there would be arrangements made so they could retrieve their stuff.”
:oops: :rolleyes:
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Likes   Reactions: DennisN and russ_watters
Computer science news on Phys.org
Here is the original supercar (all those others are fakes) from a 1961-2 British TV show shown in the US too:

 
  • Like
  • Haha
Likes   Reactions: Klystron and hutchphd
I hear the electric flying cars are incredible but have a very limited range due to the extension cord.
 
  • Haha
Likes   Reactions: DennisN and jedishrfu
The battery operated ones fly longer especially if you replaceable spares in your luggage.

I’m holding out for the nuclear fusion models that will scoop fuel out of the air.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
6K
Replies
11
Views
3K