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I don't think it's impossible to make flying cars work, but the practicality of them seems very questionable. I think Elon Musk makes some good points against t

I don't think it's impossible to make flying cars work, but the practicality of them seems very questionable. I think Elon Musk makes some good points against them (noise, wind, anxiety, danger): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTh36uCf0Mk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTh36uCf0Mk Additionally, are they worth the energy & technology cost, or would really fast autonomous cars (even if they need a dedicated track or tunnel) be much more feasible? Making a vehicle roll along the ground requires a lot less energy than making one that moves along the same path but also fights gravity the entire way.

avar 6y ago
> noise, [...] anxiety How is it any categorically different from taking a helicopter ride today, or being a passenger in a fast-moving scooter? A lot of people are demonstrably fine with that. > [...]wind The wind from the propellers will be going downwards, I don't see why the user would be subjected to more wind than if they were on a motorcycle or in a convertible for the rest of the ride. > are they worth the energy[...] Some quick searching shows that a 85 kWh Tesla battery is 540 kg, this vehicle is 400 kg in total, let's say very optimistically that 200 kg of that is the battery, so around 40 kWh. At $0.25 per kWh that's around $10 for a 5-10 minute ride. Considering you'd be able to traverse a significant distance in a dense city that doesn't seem too bad compared to a normal taxi. > [...]& technology cost Technology which is being developed for autonomous drones anyway, putting a seat in it instead of a cargo box doesn't make it that much more complex. > [...]Making a vehicle roll along the ground[...] Sure, but as a technology how much is rolling along the ground going to cost in a place like Tokyo if the government stopped subsidizing the land use required for that road surface? That's going to be the main longer term impact of "flying cars" in dense cities.
- sdflhasjd 6y ago
  > How is it any categorically different from taking a helicopter ride today, or being a passenger in a fast-moving scooter? A lot of people are demonstrably fine with that. At the same time, a lot of people _aren't_ and those same people are going to be uncomfortable with these flying over their heads.
- polytely 6y ago
  The wind is mainly a problem for everyone else, not the passenger themselves. Imagine being a pedestrian in a city where a chunk of all taxis is replaced with flying taxis, seems like a lot of hinder for everyone else just so some rich asshole can get slightly faster to their destination
  - tchaffee 6y ago
    This seems short-sighted. Mobile phones used to an annoying tool only "rich assholes" could use to loudly talk in a public space. Cars, air travel, electric cars - all at one point only affordable by the rich.
    - jfoster 6y ago
      Suppose pretty much everyone can fly around in flying cars. Isn't there now an immense amount of noise and wind everywhere, akin to having a landing helicopter next to you all day?

avar 6y ago

> noise, [...] anxiety How is it any categorically different from taking a helicopter ride today, or being a passenger in a fast-moving scooter? A lot of people are demonstrably fine with that. > [...]wind The wind from the propellers will be going downwards, I don't see why the user would be subjected to more wind than if they were on a motorcycle or in a convertible for the rest of the ride. > are they worth the energy[...] Some quick searching shows that a 85 kWh Tesla battery is 540 kg, this vehicle is 400 kg in total, let's say very optimistically that 200 kg of that is the battery, so around 40 kWh. At $0.25 per kWh that's around $10 for a 5-10 minute ride. Considering you'd be able to traverse a significant distance in a dense city that doesn't seem too bad compared to a normal taxi. > [...]& technology cost Technology which is being developed for autonomous drones anyway, putting a seat in it instead of a cargo box doesn't make it that much more complex. > [...]Making a vehicle roll along the ground[...] Sure, but as a technology how much is rolling along the ground going to cost in a place like Tokyo if the government stopped subsidizing the land use required for that road surface? That's going to be the main longer term impact of "flying cars" in dense cities.

sdflhasjd 6y ago
> How is it any categorically different from taking a helicopter ride today, or being a passenger in a fast-moving scooter? A lot of people are demonstrably fine with that. At the same time, a lot of people _aren't_ and those same people are going to be uncomfortable with these flying over their heads.
polytely 6y ago
The wind is mainly a problem for everyone else, not the passenger themselves. Imagine being a pedestrian in a city where a chunk of all taxis is replaced with flying taxis, seems like a lot of hinder for everyone else just so some rich asshole can get slightly faster to their destination
- tchaffee 6y ago
  This seems short-sighted. Mobile phones used to an annoying tool only "rich assholes" could use to loudly talk in a public space. Cars, air travel, electric cars - all at one point only affordable by the rich.
  - jfoster 6y ago
    Suppose pretty much everyone can fly around in flying cars. Isn't there now an immense amount of noise and wind everywhere, akin to having a landing helicopter next to you all day?