3 ms·

Flying car firm Alef hits 2,850 preorders, worth over $850M

6 points by kjhughes 3y ago

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
hef19898 3y ago
Yeah sure. I'd sell them my bridge, but I guess they don't need it...
veidr 3y ago
I mean, impressive, until you realize the "pre-order" is only $150 that is refundable if the preorderer changes their mind. Then it becomes more "impressive, in the Long Island Iced Tea, I Mean Blockchain, Corp" kind[1] of way. At the same time, I imagine the flying car guys are all like "shit, if these car guys can just keep fatally running over pedestrians, driving into walls, and hitting the same goddam truck en masse with no real repercussions — I mean let's gooooooooo!" which is kind of understandable. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Blockchain_Corp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Blockchain_Corp
- veidr 3y ago
  Wait, this article is idiotic. I first skimmed it as they made this fake flying car with $150 refundable preorders, and their market cap went to $850,000,000. In fact, that's just a number that was in somebody's ass (not sure if that somebody is from the company, or just the reporter rectally deriving the number). But that's just the gross revenue if every single pre-order turned into a $300,000.00 sale. At $150, the real number is $427,500. And fully refundable any time, the real number is actually... $0 Retracting my upvote on this story, it's crap. There is zero evidence, or reason to believe, that any of those "customers" will ever drive or fly one of these cars.
nkrisc 3y ago
But when and where will you fly it? I would think the the majority of people are not qualified (if not legally then at least practically) to pilot any type of aircraft. You’re not going to fly to work, or skip traffic on the freeway. Seems like little more than a toy and proof of concept. Putting aside the chances of this ever even becoming a real, commercially available vehicle in the first place.
- garciasn 3y ago
  According to the article, "The Alef Model A...also qualifies as an ultra-light vehicle, meaning it comes under the same legal classification as small electric vehicles like golf carts," and this means, "you do not need a pilot certificate (license) to fly ultralight vehicles." https://www.faa.gov/faq/do-i-need-pilot-license-certificate-fly-ultralights https://www.faa.gov/faq/do-i-need-pilot-license-certificate-...
  - nkrisc 3y ago
    Yes, I understand that. But practically speaking the fact that it is also a ground vehicle doesn’t seem very useful for that purpose. I’m sure you can buy a trailer and ultralight aircraft for far less than $300,000. You’re not going to use this “flying car” as you would a regular car. You won’t fly to the grocery store.

6 points by kjhughes 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

hef19898 3y ago

Yeah sure. I'd sell them my bridge, but I guess they don't need it...

veidr 3y ago

I mean, impressive, until you realize the "pre-order" is only $150 that is refundable if the preorderer changes their mind. Then it becomes more "impressive, in the Long Island Iced Tea, I Mean Blockchain, Corp" kind[1] of way. At the same time, I imagine the flying car guys are all like "shit, if these car guys can just keep fatally running over pedestrians, driving into walls, and hitting the same goddam truck en masse with no real repercussions — I mean let's gooooooooo!" which is kind of understandable. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Blockchain_Corp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Blockchain_Corp

veidr 3y ago
Wait, this article is idiotic. I first skimmed it as they made this fake flying car with $150 refundable preorders, and their market cap went to $850,000,000. In fact, that's just a number that was in somebody's ass (not sure if that somebody is from the company, or just the reporter rectally deriving the number). But that's just the gross revenue if every single pre-order turned into a $300,000.00 sale. At $150, the real number is $427,500. And fully refundable any time, the real number is actually... $0 Retracting my upvote on this story, it's crap. There is zero evidence, or reason to believe, that any of those "customers" will ever drive or fly one of these cars.

nkrisc 3y ago

But when and where will you fly it? I would think the the majority of people are not qualified (if not legally then at least practically) to pilot any type of aircraft. You’re not going to fly to work, or skip traffic on the freeway. Seems like little more than a toy and proof of concept. Putting aside the chances of this ever even becoming a real, commercially available vehicle in the first place.

garciasn 3y ago
According to the article, "The Alef Model A...also qualifies as an ultra-light vehicle, meaning it comes under the same legal classification as small electric vehicles like golf carts," and this means, "you do not need a pilot certificate (license) to fly ultralight vehicles." https://www.faa.gov/faq/do-i-need-pilot-license-certificate-fly-ultralights https://www.faa.gov/faq/do-i-need-pilot-license-certificate-...
- nkrisc 3y ago
  Yes, I understand that. But practically speaking the fact that it is also a ground vehicle doesn’t seem very useful for that purpose. I’m sure you can buy a trailer and ultralight aircraft for far less than $300,000. You’re not going to use this “flying car” as you would a regular car. You won’t fly to the grocery store.