The owner of a flying car company has completed the "first ever" commute in one of its $83,600 space-age vehicles.
Tomasz Patan, co-founder of the Swedish firm Jetson, piloted the Jetson ONE vehicle from his Italian home to a company building in Tuscany 4.8 km (2.98 miles) away. The firm says the commute time was reduced by 88 percent.
Jetson say the trip to the Santa Maria a Monte facility is a "momentous occasion for the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) sector."
The aircraft is powered by eight electric motors, has a flight time of 20 minutes, and can reach a top speed of 102 kilometers per hour (63 miles per hour).
Its construction was strongly influenced by the race cars' lightweight aluminum space frame design and Carbon-Kevlar composite body.
Running on a high discharge lithium-ion battery, the vehicle can carry a pilot's weight of 100 kilograms (210 pounds).
San Sunner, Jetson's head of communications, explained: "On May 21, after months of rigorous testing, the Jetson team completed the first-ever eVTOL commute.
"The team waited in anticipation for the Jetson ONE arrival at the Santa Maria a Monte facility in Tuscany."
Patan, who as well as being the co-founder of Jetson, is also its CTO, said: "Our long-term goal is to democratize flight. We firmly believe the 'eVTOL' is the future for mass transportation. We are committed to making this a reality.
"The Jetson is built like a Formula One car for the sky and incredibly fun to fly. Most importantly, the Flight Stabilization System we developed makes flight super easy.
"We can make anyone a pilot in less than five minutes," said Peter Ternstrom, co-founder and president.
Jetson say their prototype "proof of concept" was finished in the spring of 2018, and have since been working on a "consumer-friendly" version.
The company also said: "The entire 2022 production is sold out, but we are accepting orders for 2023 delivery.
"We intend to make everyone a pilot."
The founders say they have taken extra care regarding the safety of their consumers. The electric aerial vehicle is fully equipped with a spaceframe safety cell, inspired by race-car designs, and it comes with hands-free hover and emergency functions.
If a passenger needs to quickly exit the Jetson ONE in a case of an emergency, a ballistic parachute that rapidly deploys is also provided with the vehicle.
The Jetson ONE has the ability to fly safely even with the loss of one motor, and it has a redundant flight computer.
It also comes with Lidar sensors-driven terrain tracking and obstacle avoidance, to fully ensure the utmost safe and comfortable of flights.
This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
