Asia's first hybrid flying car: Five things you need to know

We are not very far away from the day when flying cars will be used around the world and even in India to carry out emergency medical services or transport cargo or people from one place to another. Various companies around the world are developing flying cars and air taxis and even building urban air ports for their take off and landing.In a bid to make the usage of flying cars more sustainable, Chennai-based firm Vinata Aeromobility is developing Asia's first hybrid flying car which is expected to become a reality by 2023. The company recently unveiled the prototype flying car at the world's largest Helitech Expo - Excel, London. The company had last month also presented it flying car prototype to India's civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who praised the efforts of the team.

1

VTOL flying car classification:

Vinata Aeromobility's hybrid flying car is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) machine and its rotor configuration is Co-axial quad-rotor. The flying car has fixed wings on four sides and it can hover, take off, and land vertically.  Its co-axial quad-rotor system draws energy from eight BLDC motors that come with eight fixed pitch propellers.

2

Flight time, top speed, range and other specs:

The hybrid flying car can fly up to 60 minutes at a top speed of 120 kmph. It can fly at a maximum height of 3,000 ft from ground level. The two-seater flying car weighs 1100 kg and can handle a maximum takeoff weight of 1300kg. It is claimed to have a range of 100 kilometres and the highest service ceiling of 3,000 feet.

3

Cabin highlights:

On the inside, Vinata's hybrid flying car features digital instrument panels with artificial intelligence to make the experience for flying and driving the car more engaging and hassle-free. There is huge vertically-placed digital touchscreen system that can be used for navigation, among other things. Above the vertical screen are three horizontally placed screens that feature various functionalities including weather information and then there's a yoke like steering wheel. The flying car gets a panoramic window canopy that provides a 300-degree view.

4

Safety on board:

For safety purpose, the hybrid electric flying car gets an ejection parachute as well as airbags enabled cockpit. Further, it uses Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) system which provides safety for the passengers through redundancy. This means there are multiple propellers and motors on the aircraft and if one or more motors or propellers fail, the other working motors and propellers can safely land the aircraft.

5

Sustainable transportation:

To make its use sustainable, the hybrid flying car will make use of bio fuel alongside electricity. There is backup power that can provide electricity to the motor in the event of a generator power interruption.

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