PAL-V Liberty to debut as first flying car, priced from $399,000

The Dutch made PAL-V Liberty claims to be the first commercially available flying car and the production version of the same was shown at the Geneva Motor Show for people to check out. The car transforms itself when it changes from the road mode and the fly mode and comes with two independent engines.

When the car is in road mode, it measures about the size of a small car and is powered by a 99-horsepower engine that can push the Liberty to about 160 kilometres per hour. IT comes with a tilting suspension and a maximum expected weight of just about 1000 kgs. According to the manufacturer, the PAL-V is certified to fly under the European Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration and also complies with road safety regulations. To fly this, you will need a pilot’s license along with the regular driving license. To take off and land it in flight mode, you will need a small airstrip and it takes anywhere between five to ten minutes to shift between the flight and driving mode.

There were other exhibits from Volocopter, Ehang, Lilium, and Vahana that showcased flying cars as drone type technology in sync with the cars. These come with autonomous features and have multiple rotors powered by electric batteries that help in flight. In the recent past, as the “flying car” term became more of a gimmick and started receiving hate, the word eVTOL has become more common which is an abbreviation for electric vertical take-off and landing.

We’ve seen companies like Uber, Airbus and even Intel pump in a lot of cash into the Flying Cars segment with a hope of creating an aerial taxi service at some point. There are two variants of this flying car with the Sports edition starting at $399,000 and the more premium Pioneer version costing $599,000 that comes with a unique interior and exterior. The complete certification is expected to be granted by 2019 and the company will then hand over the keys of the PAL-V Liberty to its first customers.