Electrified aircraft could make flying cars a reality

[FeedBot]

Those 1950s magazine covers with stylized flying cars zipping around may have been onto something after all. Ford Motor Company and the University of Michigan released the results of a study on Tuesday that suggests vertical take-off and landing contraptions—think cars with wings—may make some sense as an eco-friendly alternative to...

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[Ringo64]

Two things:

1. Consumers don't want electric cars yet, one of the reasons being range. Add in that same fear with being in the air and well, you get the idea...
2. One of the points they made is on traffic. If they were to get popular, you would run into similar issues today as typical cars.

[Frosty]

How very Jetson like. However I am still waiting for my personal flying jetpack. WIll this thing also fold up into a small, lightweight briefcase?

Seriously - 

1.  in a VTOL aircraft, a lot of fuel is consumed in take off, converting to flight, converting to vertical hover, and landing. I assume the same physics would apply with electric powered turbofans. So battery life is critical, not to mention redundant systems to avoid catastrophic failure.

2. Now that we are talking about flying, will you now need to be a trained, registered pilot by the FAA in instrument and VTOL flying since you would (theoretically) be flying these in nearly all weather conditions. So this may limit the number of people who can buy one/operate one to those who are FAA licensed.

 

Dang it, I still want my jetpack!