Learning how to safely operate a TF-X vehicle should take an average driver no more than five hours.
Terrafugia is a Massachusetts company previously known for the Transition, which is best described as a plane you can drive. Its wings fold up, meaning pilots can drive it off the runway and straight home. Which is great for pilots, but what about the rest of us?
Now Terrafugia is working on a futuristic flying car, the TF-X, which it expects to start selling in the early 2020s. It's a cross between a Google self-driving car, a helicopter and a plane. The carbon-fibre vehicle takes off vertically, from your driveway (presuming you have 100 feet of clearance), using electric-powered rotor blades mounted on each side.
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Once in the air, the rotor blades drop and a rear-mounted gas engine takes over. In normal weather, the computer lands for you, though you have a parachute as a backup – just in case you encounter any HAL-style situations. It has a range of up to 800 kilometres.
The concept behind the TF-X is that it puts as much of the process as possible on autopilot; as much as your average commercial aeroplane, if not more. "Learning how to safely operate a TF-X vehicle should take an average driver no more than five hours," the company claims.
Terrafugia isn't announcing the cost until it gets closer to production, though it does claim: "With investment in automotive scale production, early studies indicate that it is possible that the final price point could be on-par with very high-end luxury cars."
Currently, the company estimates it will start shipping the $US270,000 Transition plane to customers in 2015. If they sell well, it will increase the likelihood of the TF-X flying car becoming a reality in the early 2020s.
Mashable is the largest independent news source covering digital culture, social media and technology. This post was originally published on Mashable.
