It seems like a story ready to be told: a meeting of four friends in a cafe in Palo Alto, California. On his desk, various vehicle designs scribbled on paper napkins. Finally, in one the closest thing to a flying car appears. His could have been an initiative that, like many that happen in Silicon Valley, would have ended up in a trash can, since it happened in 2015. However, that napkin and everything that followed, like a small drone, a round to attract investors and a lot of shadow engineering work, has returned to the present, since the FAA, Federal Aviation Administration of the United States, has just given them the green light. Now, Alef Aeronautics, a company that those same friends created around an electric car capable of flying, will be able to take to the skies. Or try.
The FAA, which, together with the European EASA, is the world reference body in aviation, has granted them a special airworthiness certificate that will allow this car to fly in order to advance its development. All this, in a series of limited locations compatible with air traffic. The enthusiasm of those behind the initiative upon receiving the permit has been enormous. So much so that the executive director of the company, Jim Dukhovny, has endorsed the phrase of astronaut Neil Armstrong when he reached the Moon in 1969, although adapting it to his project: “This is a small step for airplanes, although it is one giant for cars”, he said when he found out that his prototype was going to be able to take off after obtaining some permits that are not exactly easy.
The so-called Alef Model A is a vehicle that, due to its lines, is reminiscent of the Porsche 550 Spyder, the sports car that James Dean turned into a myth, albeit in a futuristic version. The goal of its builders is that it can be enjoyed both on the road, with a range of 322 kilometers, and in the air, where it would fly 177 kilometers, taking off and landing vertically. The latter has been one of the fixings, in addition to its electric propulsion, to make it really different, something that Hirash Razaghi, former designer of another automobile legend: the Bugatti house, has been commissioned to do.
As one cannot live solely on the basis of enthusiasm and dreams, Dukhovny, of Ukrainian origin and son of a singer and rocket scientist, acknowledges that the financial support of the American Tim Drapper has been key to the development of the project. Through his venture capital firm, Drapper has been an important partner in initiatives such as Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, Twitter or Twitch, among others. The investor himself acknowledged that he gave his support when he saw with his own eyes that the flying car team was fulfilling the roadmap that they had been promised. In the same way, the director of Alef has always taken pride in making public only what has a face, eyes and is demonstrable, something that is not usually frequent in this type of initiative, where many well-intentioned drawings and presentations later simply remain in simulation.
The car has 12 electric motors in all, one for each wheel when driving and one for each rotor when flying. All completely redundant. Its price has been set at $300,000 (about 275,000 euros), and units can already be reserved on the company’s website. There are already about 1,000 people who have given a down payment for being the first users ranging from 150 to 1,500 dollars. Now, with all the tests that are yet to come, the assessment of which will be the most opportune places to take off and when will come.
