On the Dream Stage at IFA Next on Sunday, Jim Dukhovny – founder and CEO of Alef Aeronautics – addressed the packed room with a series of impossibilities: “You can’t build a flying car. Henry Ford and Elon Musk have tried. The laws of physics prevent it. Air traffic would not allow it,” he began, before contradicting this received wisdom to showcase the Alef Model A flying car, claiming it as “the first vertical take-off flying car in history.”
The project incepted in 2015 “the year many new technologies came to maturity” followed by investment from Tim Draper (previous investments: Skype, Tesla, SpaceX and Bitcoin). In 2019 a prototype car flew for the first time and in 2022 a launch event went viral with a global reach of over 2 billion people.
The specifics of the car itself make this long-unrealised science fiction proposition a potential reality. Eight independent propellers, driven by four electric motors, controlled by an onboard computer ensure stable flight. Carbon fibre mesh bodywork, shaped by sportscar designer Hirash Razaghi, mean it is “extremely light and yet stronger than 70% of cars built today” claimed Mr Dukhovny. But the real eureka moment came in the answer to the question: how can you build wings onto a car, when that would prevent vertical take-off? The solution: rotate the vehicle 90 degrees, so that the side panels become wings and the car effectively becomes a biplane. With over 100 safety features, including a failsafe parachute, clearance to fly from international aviation regulators, good sustainability credentials and the promise that time saved not stuck in traffic will enrich lives, Mr Dukhovny is confident we are on the verge of seeing Alef flying cars commuting above cities in the very near future.
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