Friday 9 September 2022 03:34 PM $92,000 flying car that can fly at up to 63mph secures $10 million investment trends now
From The Jetsons to Harry Potter, flying cars are staple features in science fiction blockbusters.
Now, the firm behind a futuristic vehicle inspired by The Jetsons has secured $10 million investment.
Tuscany-based startup Jetson unveiled Jetson ONE last year - a flying vehicle with top speeds of 63mph and a range of around 20 miles.
The developers claim that 'anyone can buy and operate one' - that is, if you have a spare £80,000 ($92,000) to burn.
Jetson has secured $10 million investment and has opened a new research and development hub in Arezzo, Tuscany
A startup from Sweden has developed a personal flying vehicle that it says 'anyone can fly' called the Jetson One, and it is available for £80,000 ($92,000)
The car is named after The Jetsons, a fictional 'future family' created in the early 1960s by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and including UFO-like flying cars
The all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft was launched in October last year and proved so popular it sold out almost immediately for delivery later this year.
Now, Jetson has opened a new research and development hub in Arezzo, Tuscany.
The hub features an 800 metre long airstrip for flight testing.
'The Tuscan climate allows for perfect flight testing conditions and the 800 meter airstrip means we can continue to fly daily,' they explained in a statement.
'Any customer who has received an assigned chassis number will be invited in the Spring of 2023.'
Earlier this year, Jetson revealed footage showing a pilot navigating the flying vehicle.
In a clip posted on "YouTube, the firm said: 'At Jetson we are working hard so you are able to experience the purest form of flight on your own.'
In the video, an unnamed pilot can be seen expertly navigating the flying vehicle over fields and trees.
Jetson has already demonstrated that the vehicle can also be flown over water.
Peter Ternström, one half of the brains behind Jetson, said: 'The first time I flew it, it felt amazing — it's completely vibration free so it's nothing like a helicopter or aeroplane.
Jetson's new hub in Arezzo, Tuscany, features an 800 metre long airstrip for flight testing
'It's totally new and it's euphoric. We are opening another dimension for people.'
He added: 'But we have a vision way beyond the Jetson One — we want to make a two-seater flying car in four years.
'By the end of the decade, we want a four-seater flying car on the market, one that can replace a normal family car, and everyone will want it.
'We want to make cities a better place to live and mass transport is going to need to change to do that — everything is going up in the air!
'People think it's crazy but we believe everyone can be a pilot by the end of the decade. Evolution happens fast.'
Ternström and co-founder Tomasz Patan established Jetson in 2017 after first thinking of the concept several years earlier.
In the video, an unnamed pilot can be seen expertly navigating the flying vehicle over fields and trees
