Terrafugia made some noise at last year’s New York auto show when the unveiled the “Transition”, a two-seat, street-legal airplane that could achieve a max air speed of 115MPH and 35MPG on the road.
The Transition, a flying car created by Terrafugia.
A little over a year later, the company is again grabbing headlines, this time for releasing details on their vision for the next generation of road-to-air transportation, the “TF-X”.
Artist concept of the TF-X by Terrafugia.
The TF-X is an exciting concept because it is a much closer replacement for today’s vehicles than the Transition, which features large, retractable wings, and can only really take off from airport runways.
The updated model offers four seats and is designed to take off and land vertically via electrically-powered rotors mounted on the ends of its fold-up wings.
The TF-X during take off.
The energy necessary for powering these motors is drawn from a battery back yet to be developed, which will either be charged by an electrical outlet or by the gas turbine engine that powers the vehicle’s rear-mounted propellers.
The TF-X flying through the air via rear-mounted propellers.
When travelling by road, the TF-X is powered by electric motors in the wheels of the car. They are run off the aforementioned battery pack or in series hybrid mode; that is, where the turbine is tasked with generating electricity after the battery charge has been run dry.
The car can’t be driven by anyone — a pilot’s license will be required. This shouldn’t dismay potential buyers, representatives from Terrafugia note. They believe a simple five-hour training session is all it takes to learn how to drive the TF-X, though the goal is to hopefully not have users do much (if any) flying at all. You see, the FAA’s NextGen program is set to begin in 2020 and it will require all aircraft to be equipped with satellite transponders that send the vehicle’s exact location to a centralized air traffic management system.
Translation: the TF-X could be capable of flying entirely by itself, from takeoff to landing. The user would simply need to input the location of their travel destination before they sit back and relax.
Terrafugia representatives note that the TF-X will require a clear 100-foot diameter zone for takeoffs and landings (so hopefully you live near a parking lot or empty field if you’re an early adopter). The company envisions cities and towns establishing takeoff and landing areas once the technology takes off, with these areas being regulated like helicopter pads are today.
In terms of the technological development of this vehicle, the company wants to get the TF-X to the point where it can achieve a top speed in the air of 200MPH, with 500-mile range.
Representatives at Terrafugia say they’re still about 8 to 10 years away from the TF-X being actualized. As it stands, the Transition is still a couple of years away from production, though the goal is to have it ready by 2015.
To give you an idea of how much the TF-X will cost, it is expected that the Transition will hit the shelves sporting a $279,000 price tag.
Video demonstration of the TF-X below:
Learn more at terrafugia.com
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