Flying cars have always been in the realm of imagination rather than reality. However, a future with cars flying around now seems closer than ever. The recently held Vibrant Gujarat summit saw the CEO of a flying car company make some interesting observations.
PAL-V is a Dutch company who has developed world’s first commercial flying car. More exciting news is this that it is coming to India, we might get our first flying car in 2021. PAL-V’s CEO Robert Dingemanse who is attending the Vibrant Gujarat 2019 programme in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar told media “While our car is set for launch in 2020, our entire production for the year is booked. We hope to see India get its first car in 2021”.
The manufacturers are optimistic about creating a market in India and hope to find takers among the Indian coast guards, police, medical teams, government agencies, corporates and individuals. There is a possibility that PAL-V might look out for manufacturers specialising in automotive and aerospace engineering to start manufacturing in India.
According to PAL-V it takes around 5-10 minutes to convert a car from drive mode to fly mode. The rotor mast will unfold automatically but, pulling out the tail section, Unfolding of the rotor blades will have to be done by the driver only. Manufacturers says that the noise the the flying car will produce will be comparable to a small fixed wing aeroplane.
It is basically a gyrocopter aircraft with two engines. The drive mode engine produces a maximum of 99 Bhp and can reach a top speed of 160 kph and can sprint from 0-100 Kph in 9.0 seconds. In air the flying car is propelled by a 197 bhp flying engine that can help it climb to a maximum altitude of 3500m at a maximum speed of 180 kph. PAL-V claims that it will have a flying range of about 310 miles.
There is no hiding from the fact that these flying cars are definitely going to cost a fortune. The PAL-V Liberty costs around Rs 4.18 crore, The Liberty Pioneer Edition will cost around Rs 3.78 crore and the Liberty Sport model will cost about Rs 2.52 crore, all the prices before taxes.
There’s no dearth of people in India who can fork out that kind of money for a flying car considering that most Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Rolls Royce cars that are seen on Indian roads cost much more. So, it’s only a matter of PAL-V launching the flying car in India rather than rich Indians being able to afford one.
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