Terrafugia shows off 2021 flying car
Car-plane maker says vertical take-off TF-X will hit 320km/h, offer an 800km range; likely to cost $400KThe US company behind the 2012 Transition flying car has unveiled its vision for the future of flying cars.
Called the TF-X, the new car/plane is powered by an undisclosed 225kW petrol-electric hybrid system said to be capable of averaging 8.0L/100km on the road.
Once in the air, the majority of the thrust is provided by a 75kW rotax aircraft engine that can help the TF-X reach a maximum 320km/h. Perhaps more impressive is that at a 160km/h cruise, the flying car has a range of over 650km. Total range, claims Terrafugia, is 800km.
The TF-X is said to have been in development for years and currently engineers are working in the wind tunnel with one-tenth scale models. The biggest challenge faced by the 20 former aeronautic graduates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology is overcoming the difficult transition from take-off to forward flight.
Terrafugia says sales will begin in 2021 with prices expected to start at around $400,000.
Terrufugia’s first car-plane, the Transition, currently sells for $280,000. Two Transitions are known to have been purchased by Australian buyers. The firm’s first flying car has a maximum speed of 185km/h and cruises at 172km/h and also has a range of 800km. Unlike the TF-X, the Transition doesn’t have a vertical take-off mode and needs a 500m stretch of road, or runway, to take off.
The Transition is one of few cars that comes with an optional parachute... for the car, not the pilot.
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