In August 2018 we learned that the popular car brand Aston Martin was planning to put up for sale what would have become the first flying taxi project , which was officially presented at the Farnborough Airshow, and which he intended to sell for a price of 7.8 million euros, putting it up for sale in 2020.
The flying vehicle, developed in partnership with aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce, was capable of taking off and landing vertically, and reaching 200 miles / hour in flight. But it is clear that, with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March 2020, the idea (or the project itself) finally ended up staying there. And, at least for the moment, little is known about it.
However, during this decade it is expected that, finally, many of the flying electric car projects that we had some news about a few years ago, will end up materializing. This is the case of ASKA , a flying car created by the Californian startup NFT .
Like other manufacturers of flying vehicles, the brand is very confident in its project, to the point of announcing a few days ago that its particular flying car should hit the road (and into the sky) in the year 2026 . What’s more, he’s so confident that the company has decided to offer the ability for customers to pre-order .
To make the reservation, the interested person has to pay 5,000 dollars (4,098 euros at the exchange rate), which undoubtedly represents a large deposit, although nothing comparable with the final sale price, since it barely represents less than 0.6 per hundred. In fact, when it supposedly goes on sale in 2026, the ASKA flying electric car will be priced at $ 789,000 .
Although we may think, indeed, that it is an exorbitant price, the truth is that this sum does not only include the vehicle itself. It also offers access to driver training, customization of both the interior and exterior of the car, personalized license plate and, in addition, company shares.
What are the characteristics of ASKA?
In terms of size, this electric flying car is similar in size to that of a large SUV today . On the other hand, as it would be logical to imagine, it also has deployable wings that allow it to take off without impulse, in a similar way to how a helicopter does.
What’s more, it is capable of taking off vertically and landing in the same way , without having any type of runway to take off and / or land.
Although it is a flying vehicle, it is clear that it can be driven like a traditional car . Then, once the wings have been deployed, it is possible to take the flight , with a range of 400 kilometers.
Its designers have chosen to offer a hybrid vehicle , which means that it will integrate both a gasoline engine and an electric battery to drive the propellers, as a safety measure.
And, as its developers maintain, one of the main problems facing its manufacturers is the battery cell , which is why a gasoline engine has been included, since “there is no developer of chemical cells in the world to tell you that your cell will not crash in midair, and we can’t take that risk, ”as Guy Kaplinsky, co-founder and CEO of NFT, pointed out.
As stated by the directors of the company, there is no doubt that flying cars can become an ideal solution to alleviate the typical congestion in cities , also reducing the use of other much more polluting means of transport. But it raises a question, how can travel be organized? Time will tell.
