Flying cars are coming and drones

The idea of the flying car is not new. We all saw concepts and ideas of flying cars in movies more than 30 years ago. We all even saw flying cars in cartoons like the Jetsons. Flying cars is definitely something many people are looking forward to but the pitfalls are waiting for them. Like Elon Musk said it is far too dangerous for it to work in reality. The reason for it is that in the event the engines or propulsion systems fail the car will simply fall out of the sky and crash killing the occupants and anybody directly below.

Unlike normal cars, the flying car has no road or track for it to rest on. The fail safe system is only as good as the design and the reliability of the hardware. Traffic congestion is the main reason for the flying car to potentially become a reality soon. Several companies have developed working prototypes that can land and take off almost vertically and have an operating range of up to 600km at a speed of up to 300km/h. A Chinese inventor also developed a small flying car based on drones using 4 large propellers to provide lift and forward propulsion.

I don't foresee flying cars to be a reality for at least another 15 years unless the regulators can agree on a specific safety and operating standard. It is not easy for all regulatory bodies to agree and also for legal liabilities associated with it. Some of the big companies like Google and Apple are rumoured to have invested in Flying Car technology. Chinese company that owns Geely is said to have bought over an American company that has the working flying car prototype. It is undoubtedly a bold move but is the public ready for this?

Like cars on the road, the movement and travel of the flying car has to be monitored and control. Without any flow control it cause congestion in the air as well as on the ground. I know many who would dream of using a flying car as their daily means of transport to avoid traffic especially in heavily congested cities like LA, tokyo, Manila. Bangkok, Jakarta or New York.

The cost will be a prohibiting factor for the time being since the first prototype was a quoted at over US$200,000 each. Only the rich will be able to afford it and it will take time for the cost to drop before it is more affordable for the masses.

The other possibility is the creation of a larger drone capable of carrying 1 or 2 persons. this may be a more simple approach however it will still need to be regulated. Simply building and selling it won't be practical and when accidents happen it may cause it to be banned. For now, the flying car is still nothing but a dream but this dream may become a reality sooner than we know.