Sci-fi flying cars are being brought to life and more companies are competing to make the technology prevalent across the globe.
Santa Clara, California-based Alef Aeronautics is working on a car that will be able to take off into the air vertically and fly like a helicopter up to 110 miles on a single charge. The company says it plans to begin delivering the vehicles to customers by the end of 2025.
Alef’s Model A will cost $300,000, and presales are currently open, with interested customers paying just a $150 deposit to get on the waiting list or $1,500 for a “priority” spot on the list. Alef says the firm has been test-driving and flying its prototype since 2019, and the version it plans to deliver to customers will also have a driving range of 200 miles.
Alef CEO Jim Dukhovny tells CNBC Make It that the car is mainly intended to stay on roads, ideally only traveling through the air for short heights and distances to avoid specific obstacles. He refers to those moments as “hop” scenarios, “where the customer mainly uses the vehicle as a car, and only ‘hop’ over the obstacles when needed.”
