Insights June 11th, 2018

We are headed towards a futuristic world where we can expect to see flying cars everywhere. If we are to believe UBER, LYFT, and a number of other companies then this once unlikely future will likely become a reality in a few key cities around the world.
Youtube Creator Casey Neistat just claimed to have flown the ‘first flying car’ (see video below).

Well, there are many others working on this.

UBER Elevate to UBERAIR

Within a decade UBER claims it’ll provide a global network of on demand urban electric aircraft that take off and land vertically.

And, it’s developing fast and renamed to UBERAIR

The top-10 Futuristic Flying Cars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-uq1Uqp_8g
TF-X. The company Terrafugia has designed one of the most amazing concept cars of the flying variety. This vehicle, the TF-X, will sport fold out wings which will allow the vehicle to fit into a garage. It will have motors allowing it to shift its axis and sit in a vertical or a horizontal position. The car will move through the air powered by thrust from the large fan that sits on its back end, and this thrust will cap out at about 200 miles per hour. The plan is for this car to be partially autonomous, allowing it to fly itself and leaving only the decision-making aspect of travel required for the pilot. This four-door flying wonder is yet another glimpse into the future of travel and unlike some other concepts on this list, this concept is only a few steps away from being a reality.
Boeing Sky Commuter 4. This is the Sky Commuter, and it is a concept car that has the capability to be a functioning and working design in our world today. It certainly has the potential to work, but the model itself would have to be reworked to modern standards as per the fact that this design first surfaced in the 1980’s. Other than that, theoretically it should work. Built by Boeing, the leading air travel providers for the entire world, the idea of this car was to build a private plane for the average man essentially. Unfortunately, the project was canceled after an unsightly amount of money was poured into it. This is a design that emerged nearly 30 years ago and it is astounding that it is still one the best flying car concept designs that we have made thus far. Perhaps someday it will become a suitable design again.
Moller M400 Skycar 3. In 1991 the Skycar was built. This car for a long time was one of the closest concepts to being a reality, and while it never was a practical reality, it served as valuable inspiration for the future design that came after it. Using four turbine engines for propulsion and an attempt at VTOL tech (before VTOL tech existed) for landing and takeoff, it was a heavily inspired vehicle that led to a lot of the designs we have today. It was meant to be controlled by a simple two-lever system and it designed to reach speeds of up 375 miles per hour. Despite the high level of inspiration and design and technical work that went into the Skycar, it was never able to do more than hover a few feet off of the ground. Its inventor was a man named Paul Moller, and he has spent 50 years trying to make this project and other projects like it a reality.
The Audi Shark.This concept car is one of not only a futuristic skill set, but also a futuristic design. The Audi Shark looks like a small personal space ship with its sleek design and shape. It is a concept car built around the idea of a two-seat flying vehicle, and its inspiration was drawn from a multitude of things, motorcycles, airplanes, and sharks just to name a few. This concept has won awards for its design and detail including the top price at the Desire Design Competition in Italy. The car itself was designed by Kazim Doku, and his award-winning concept gives a look into the future of transportation. Unfortunately, the design for this car is currently impractical, and so the project never moved forward. The reason for this is simple; there is currently no way to make a car fly in the atmosphere without a set of wings or propellers. Despite this, it serves as valuable inspiration for future concepts. The AeroMobil 3.0 1. This car is the real deal. It is hardly just a concept anymore. This wicked flying contraption is expected to be released in 2017, and it has been dubbed the AeroMobil 3.0. This car is making waves in the scientific community as well as the general population. It will be the first flying car to have ever been deemed safe enough to be sold to the general public. This beautiful piece of machinery will sport stable wings so that it will be fully capable of navigating on the road as well as in the air. Landings and take-offs would occur on the grounds of airports, and then you could simply drive right out in the same vehicle in which you landed. This is the pinnacle of recent achievement for the science of flying cars. It has effectively and practically combined a car and an airplane into a working model that will change the way humans travel entirely.


Nikolas is a world-leading Futurist Speaker and is available to speak at your event. Contact him to discuss how to engage and inspire your audience.
You can also see more of Nikolas’ thoughts on my Futurist Speaker VLOGs as he publishes them in this Youtube playlist. Please SUBSCRIBE to his Youtube channel so that you don’t miss any as they come up (it’ll be worth your time, we promise).
You can see more of his thoughts on LinkedinTwitter, and bookmarked research on Tumblr.

Cities Society Work
nik_headshot

Nikolas Badminton

Nikolas Badminton is the Chief Futurist of the Futurist Think Tank. He is world-renowned futurist speaker, a Fellow of The RSA (FRSA), a media personality, and has worked with over 400 of the world’s most impactful companies to establish strategic foresight capabilities, identify trends shaping our world, help anticipate unforeseen risks, and design equitable futures for all. In his new book – ‘Facing Our Futures’ – he challenges short-term thinking and provides executives and organizations with the foundations for futures design and the tools to ignite curiosity, create a framework for futures exploration, and shift their mindset from what is to WHAT IF…

Contact Nikolas