Sci-fi movies and books have depicted flying cars for years. XPENG AERO, Opener.aero, Skydrive Inc., and Klein Vision are all working on making this idea a reality. Some look more like the cars we drive, while others resemble spaceships or helicopters.

Looking more like a drone or helicopter, Skydrive Inc. out of Japan has a few designs they are working on. Established in 2018 this company also produces cargo drones which translates into to their car designs. Right now the specs for the SkyDrive include about 9 miles of travel and carry up to 3 people including the pilot.

Simularly in the drone realm but more car-like XPENG AEROHT out of China has a 5th generation of their flying car already. This model has the capacity for 2 people and like the SkyDrive can only travel short distances at this time. XPENG is also working on a 6th generation model that would be able to drive on the road and then also fly. (Pictured below XPENG 5th Generation - left, 6th generation concept - right)

On the other side of the spectrum, Opener's flying car looks more like a spaceship out of a sci-fi space film. This American company has a model named Blackfly that a single pilot to travel around 20 miles. Blackfly is available for early access for customers with the first customer receiving their flying car in June 2023.

The Slovakian company Klein Vision takes a sportscar and adds wings to it. The found of this company Klein has been working on developing flying cars since 1989. The Aircar is able to drive as well as fly and completed it's first 35-minute flight between two cities in 2021. The wings fold in for the car to travel in drive mode in about 3 minutes.

With all these companies working on flying cars, the sci-fi future might not be so far off. However it may take a while for infrastructure to catch up, the cost of the cars to go down, and adoption into everyday life before our traffic goes skyborne.

References

History. Klein Vision. (2019). https://www.klein-vision.com/history

Klein Vision Aircar in sky. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.klein-vision.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/001.jpg.

Klein Vision. (2021, June 30). The flying car completes first ever inter-city flight (english). Press. https://www.klein-vision.com/press

Opener Blackfly . (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2023, from https://opener.aero/_astro/opener_blackfly_post_flight_eaa_airventure_2022.b8546a8c_Z1HsghN.webp.

Opener. (2023a). Home. Opener. https://opener.aero/

Opener. (2023b, June 1). About Us. Opener. https://opener.aero/about-us

SkyDrive Inc. (n.d.-a). Evolution of the Skydrive flying car. SkyDrive Inc. Retrieved August 25, 2023, from https://en.skydrive2020.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/yoko_en.png.

SkyDrive Inc. (n.d.-b). Flying car. FLYING CAR. https://en.skydrive2020.com/air-mobility

Wu, R. (2022a). XPENG 5th generation flying car. XPENG - Official Website. XPENG Inc. Retrieved August 25, 2023, from https://xp-static-public-prod-frankfort.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/xp-ams/2022-10-11/xp/12/0183c6f0591c828c24d32c9e253d05b5.jpg.

Wu, R. (2022b, October 10). XPENG X2 completes first global public flight in Dubai. XPENG- Official Website. https://www.heyxpeng.com/news/0183c70e409582358aaf2c9e2324117a