The model shown rather sounds and acts like a huge drone
- The list of companies trying to build a flying car is long
- Aler Aeronautics’ device shown in video does seem to make a short flight
- Aler Aeronautics is said to have been founded a decade ago
Yet another company is billing itself as on the cusp of introducing a flying car to the masses. This time, an outfit called Alef Aeronautics says it has cracked the code after a decade of design. Called the Model A, its backers say they have 3,200 pre-orders for the thing.
A 53-second video, shown below, depicts a vaguely car-shaped object appearing to take flight and soar over an older GMC Yukon XL before pitching back down on a landing pad which may or may not be a green tarpaulin. The audio sounds not unlike what one hears when sending a drone aloft, giving a clue as to how this contraption hoists itself into the air. Takeoff and landing are vertical, like a helicopter.
Another clip, which gets oddly foggy as it progresses, shows what could be the same device taking off and leapfrogging a Lexus RX. This time the feat is depicted on a residential street, though the visible wayfinding signage is blurred out. The clip ends before the machine actually lands, cutting off while it is still several feet aloft. Alef estimates a driving range of 200 miles (320 km) or a flight range of about half that. Other details are scarce.
According to descriptions found on the company website, the flying car is all-electric and is driveable on public roads. Photos show the body itself to be a type of mesh design and while there are photos of it with open doors, those portals do not reveal themselves in this video. The cabin is allegedly set on a gimbal-type device. Alef’s own website describes it as a Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) which is a class of car generally limited to 40 km/h. In America, nearly all 50 states allow for LSVs, also called Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, to drive on roads where the speed limit is 35 mph (55 km/h) or less. Low-speed vehicles are currently street legal in British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario.
Who is behind the company? Well, its Facebook page has a grand total of 1,900 likes and precisely zero posts. There are two reviews, both of which are a few months old and seem to reference crypto for some reason. Its LinkedIn account is slightly more active, describing an outfit founded in 2015 with “11 to 50” employees and an HQ in California.
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