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Carsales Staff20 Jun 2017
NEWS

Neva AirQuadOne flying car unveiled

Just when you were thinking the "flying car" was an impossibility, things got real

The Neva AirQuadOne is a flying car. And it's probably the most significant concept to push the theory from fantasy to reality thus far.

What is a flying car? Well, it depends who's asking, but it's generally accepted that a small, somewhat affordable vehicle with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability and a short flying time fits the description.

Neva Aerospace, a UK-based syndicate comprised of five European aviation and robotics companies, says its flying car is the real deal and could be available within five years.

Currently on display at the 2017 Paris Air Show (June 19- 25), the Neva AirQuadOne concept vehicle appears to be the closest thing yet to a flying car by virtue of its simplicity… which could translate into "affordable".

The Neva AirQuadOne weighs 530kg, which means it doesn't require huge amounts of energy to become airborne. It has a 150kg battery pack that supplies four electric turbofans, or Static Thrust and Semi-Dynamic turbines in Neva-speak, and 20 ducted fans.

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The big electric turbofans are "designed for static thrust and optimised for vertical take-off and landing" reads the Neva press statement, and they rotate from the horizontal to the vertical plane to enable forward thrust.

With a flight time of just 20 minutes, seating for one and a top speed of less than 80km/h, the vital statistics appear feasible.

The AirQuadOne has not been designed to ferry passengers from Melbourne to Sydney, it's more of a cross city leaper. For instance if the Sydney Harbour Bridge is grid-locked, you could use this short-hop vehicle to avoid the congestion.

Maximum altitude is pegged at 3000 feet, and a hybrid version could fly for up to 60 minutes. The company reckons AirQuadOne could be automated (unmanned), with a 100kg payload to "replace cranes and helicopters or emergency cars".

Neva Aerospace already has runs on the board in terms of VTOL craft – mainly large drones and aerial robots – and understands that the biggest hurdle for a flying car will be air traffic control.

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Neva is already "starting to work with regulators and pilots to seek light aircraft certification within the USA (FAA) and EU (EASA)" says the consortium, and will deliver "24/7 traffic management support when flying, with an emergency satcom connection".

The flying car model isn't a slam dunk like autonomous cars, although the idea of autonomously-piloted short-range vehicles could well make the idea more palatable to more people, especially decision makers.

Elon Musk has previously stated he hates the idea of a flying car, because it's something that can drop out of the sky… And will probably be bad for his non-flying car business.

But with more and more multinational billion-dollar companies working on their own flying car concepts, and governments already showing a willingness to change transport laws to match evolving technology and consumer trends, it's looking more likely the flying car will become a "thing".

The Airbus Pop.Up, Uber flying taxi and the Toyota flying car designed for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are all contenders.

Then there's the flying cars that look less likely, or are simply aeroplanes that probably will never be driven on a road, such as the Terrafugia flying car and Google founder Larry Page's flying car design.

What do you think, could a lightweight, short-hop, turbofan-powered vehicle be a useful mode of transport for grid-locked mega cities? Leave your opinion in the comments section below.

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Written byCarsales Staff
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