Featured Image Credit: KleinVision
Topics: Cars, Technology
Hannah Smith
The inventors behind a 'groundbreaking' new flying car prototype have said they hope to begin using their vehicle for journeys between London and Paris 'in the near future'.
Dr Stefan Klein and Anton Zajac are the co-founders of KleinVision, whose AirCar prototype recently passed rigorous flight testing to receive its airworthiness certification from the European transport authority.
Following the milestone, the pair have been talking up the prospects of their design, claiming it has the potential to 'change mid-distance travel forever'.
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The AirCar is an air-to-road vehicle that runs on a single propeller BMW engine, and is capable of reaching speeds of up to 100mph, with a maximum range of 1,000kmh.
KleinVision has touted the AirCar's potential for being used either as a private leisure vehicle or an air taxi service, similarly to proposals made by larger companies like Uber and Alphabet, who are also working on their own flying vehicle projects.
In a statement following confirmation that the AirCar had been officially declared airworthy, Klein said the car's certification 'opens the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars', teasing that the company plans to begin running commercial services between major European cities before too long.
He told BBC News he hoped the AirCar would 'in the near future' be available to fly passengers between London and Paris – a journey that would take around two hours based on the car's speed and range.
The project, which began in 2017, is soon expected to enter the next phase of development, with KleinVision claiming that a pre-production model will be made available within the next 12 months. Pricing for the AirCar has not yet been confirmed.
The car passed more than 70 hours of flying tests, including 200 take off and landing procedures and a 35 minute journey between the Slovakian cities of Nitra and Bratislava.
'The transportation safety is our highest priority. AirCar combines top innovations with safety measures in line with EASA standards. It defines a new category of a sports car and a reliable aircraft. Its certification was both a challenging and fascinating task,' René Molnár, director of the Civil Aviation Division of the Transport Authority of Slovakia, said of the certification process.
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