[imagesource:twitter/everythingajay]

The world’s first electric flying car has been approved, and the makers are now taking pre-orders. If you have R5.6 million to spare.

Alef Aeronautics’ flying car was recently given the green light by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the first of its kind, allowing them to start road and air testing. Elon Musk is also behind the car so at least we know it has a bit of ‘cred’.

The Alef Model A, built in San Mateo, California, is a fully electric vehicle with a mesh-covered body that conceals eight propellers. The car is able to take off vertically and has an operational distance of about 320km with two passengers on board.

You might not be seeing these flying cars zooming over traffic on the N1 anytime soon as the vehicles are still restricted to certain locations and operating circumstances. In other words, they will only be allowed to fly around under the same guidelines as normal aircraft.

According to CEO Jim Dukhovny, this is due to the certification limits placed on the car.

“This is one small step for planes, one giant step for cars.”

You can put yourself onto the order list for a deposit of R2 800, but to get onto the priority list, it’ll set you back R28 000. Guess there’s always a ‘more exclusive list’ if you have the money.

So far, 440 people have ordered their flying cars, and the makers expect to make the first deliveries in 2025.

Check out an interview with the CEO below.

Considering how South Africans drive these days, am I alone in being a bit concerned about the possibility of flying taxis zipping around overhead?

[source:capetalk]