3 ms·
Isn’t it crazy that Moller spent decades trying to get the basics of their flying car, only to give up inches from the finish line? Tech has evolved so fast in
by ricardobeat 5y ago
Isn’t it crazy that Moller spent decades trying to get the basics of their flying car, only to give up inches from the finish line?
Tech has evolved so fast in the past few years that a brand new vehicle like this can go from design to production in a few years, and anyone can build a rough working prototype in their backyard.
- 29athrowaway 5y agoMoller tried making an actual car-sized vehicle with 2 seats. The Jetson One produced a minimalistic 1 seat vehicle.
- leetcrew 5y agoyes, kudos to them for bringing it to market ($90k seems almost reasonable for this sort of contraption), but it's a much less ambitious vehicle. the aircar was supposed to cruise at 300 mph with an 800 mi range. this thing maxes out at 63 mph and has twenty minutes of flight time, so only about a 20 mile range. even if I were somehow allowed to do it, the jetson would barely make it from my house to my office.
- ricardobeat 5y agoConsidering the Skycar never flew above 10 meters high or ever achieved free flight, getting this less capable aircraft to commercial production is a significant achievement. The target specs on paper are meaningless.
- underwater 5y agoA classic case of "done is better than perfect".
- 29athrowaway 5y agoThe Jetson is an improvement over the status quo: no flying cars.
- ricardobeat 5y agoThere are quite a few other companies building larger scale VTOL vehicles: Joby, Lilium, Airbus, Archer...
- stareatgoats 5y ago> Joby, Lilium, Airbus, Archer not to forget Opener BlackFly
- runlevel1 5y agoThe liquid fuels Moller used had much better energy densities than batteries, but it never flew without a tether. The Jetson One claims to have 20 minutes endurance, which is very impressive, but still impractical. I'm not so sure the finish line is within sight yet. This is closer to an ATV than it is to a scooter. It even looks a bit like a Honda Pilot ATV with propellors. It could attract more folks than a traditional ultralight would. The price tag is much higher, though.
- cbozeman 5y agoI feel like Moller was miles away from the finish line... but maybe I'm just being pessimistic.