The American startup Next Future Mobility (NFT), announced Aska, a new futuristic designed flying car that is the same size and look of an SUV but has retractable wings that can open and fly their passengers. The official testing of the Aska flying car will begin early next year and is expected to arrive in the market by 2025 with a price of $50,000.
After working on the project for two years, NFT will finally unveil their flying car model at an Israeli conference next Monday, but CNET has already managed to get, exclusive images of the vehicle and the plans of the company for their Aska flying car.
The Aska, which in Japanese means "bird," is a double transportation, able to ride the roads and literally fly to escape traffic jams. It will be the size of an SUV and can hold up to three passengers. To open their wings and fly, passengers will steer the vehicle to an open area, such as a parking lot, so the car can pull its wings. There, it will take off vertically and fly autonomously at a speed of 240 km per hour. Then it will land in another open space and the driver will be able to drive to the destination.
Unlike the initiatives of companies like Uber , Airbus, Boeing and KittyHawk, that bet on designs derived from drones, the advantage of Aska is that it can also function like a common car. The Uber solution, for example, will only be able to operate between Skyports or stations that will be integrated with the existing transport infrastructure of the city. Aska's main advantage is that it can open its wings and fly anywhere.
The main innovation is in retractable wings, which can close in car mode or open at the time of take off. As the structure requires robustness and weight reduction, Aska can support a maximum of three people, including the pilot and passengers. The company is also developing a technology to leave the car fully autonomous.
Powerful rear fans and high wingspan can allow the car to fly at greater distances than with drone-like design. With full batteries, the car has a maximum range of 563 km with one passenger or 241 km with three people on board. The maximum speed reached by Aska has not yet been announced. However, it is expected to surpass The blackfly opener flying vehicle which s able to travel 40 km at a speed of almost 100 km / h.
Building a flying car is not an easy task. It's been almost 80 years since the legendary Henry Ford wrote in 1940 that a combination of plane and a car is coming soon. But a number of regulations, which vary from country to country, and, of course, the difficulty of developing a reliable vehicle of its kind, mean that the mission can still take many years to become possible. The Aska flying aims to be the first.
\Maki Kaplinksy, CEO of NFT, believes in Aska's ability and said that they have the most efficient and comfortable way of getting into the future and that they will work on building it no matter what it takes. The Aska flying car will undergo tests starting 2020 and is expected to launch in 2025.
As of now, the Aska flying car is estimated to cost about $ 200,000, but its price is expected to fall in a range of about $50,000 as the car's technology gains scale. The company is also planning to release a monthly payment method so that everyone can get a chance to drive the Aska. NFT said that their main goals is not to build something for the rich people, but to build something that everyone can afford.
