As of late, 360 Magazine, had the opportunity to sit down with AeroMobil’s Chief Commercial Officer, Karl Hermanns, to discuss the first ever vehicle to fly and drive, the AeroMobil 4.0. The 360 team witnessed its beauty in-person and sat in the two-passenger cockpit whilst asking all the burnings questions that would be flying through one’s head. No pun intended.
Coming from the luxury brand and art space, Hermanns, was recently onboarded to strategize the launch plans and release for later this year. Currently in the soft launch phase, the world can expect the Aeromobil to be available for pre-order later this year and delivered to the first customers in 2024. With hundreds of hours of flight testing, the prototype is currently in Europe.
“We’ve all seen flying cars in movies and Science-Fiction for years and years. It’s finally real and will be in the sky two years from now… it’s an engineering miracle,” Hermanns pointed.
The 4.0 model number attached to the name stems from the 4th iteration of design for the craft – it’s been in development for about ten years. Each iteration has advanced the aerodynamics, technology and overall flight experience. For hundreds of years, it’s been impossible to get the science right but the engineering team, based in Europe, have solved travel hybridity for the first time. An engineer from the team was on-site and explained that the hardest challenge was getting the weight and proportions right of the two-ton beast to ensure proper takeoff when thinking of adding two passengers, fuel and baggage.
From an opening glance, the model screams Back to the Future. With wings spanning a total of thirty feet, the AeroMobil was the hottest attraction for guests wandering the Petersen Automotive Museum. The invention is fully automated with the wings folding into the body of the vehicle in under 90 seconds. It’s similar to those of a bird or insect the way it functions. It’s twenty feet in length and slender look may have a driver intimated at first, when in actuality, it’s size is comparable to that of an F-150 or Escalade. It’s worth noting that a four-seater version is also in design meant to be used as a ride-sharing service. Call it a “flying Uber” if you will, measured at an untapped 70 billion dollar market.
The vehicle wasn’t designed to compete with hyper cars at lightning speeds but for the intended use of traveling between land and air. Top driving speed is set at 100mph while flying spews a solid 160mph and 300 horsepower. With a range of 320 miles driving and 460 miles flying, passengers can minimize travel time and compete full trips with the one fuel up.
Comparatively, fully electric flying vehicles might be coming the market soon, but as of now they are less far along in terms of milage range. eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) vehicles have a subsequently shorter flying distances of ten miles or so at a time, due to batteries weighing down the aircraft. The AeroMobil can be fueled at any normal gas station and only requires a 400 yard ramp for takeoff and landing. Talk about conveniency when saving more time driving all day, beating out traffic, and even dealing with delays at the the airport!
A light aircraft private pilot’s license is required to fly. Forty hours of training are required to get said license. A massive portion of the ten thousand landing strips are under utilized but are open to the public, plus infrastructure that’s already built. The AeroMobil will be priced at approximately two million USD.
A show model is currently available for viewing at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. Watch the commercial at the following link.
