For anyone who watched The Jetsons and dreamed of a future of flying cars, that future could be up for pre-order as soon as this year, according to Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng.
Xpeng AeroHT aims to deliver its flying car to customers in 2026, the company’s president told CNBC, with the vehicle currently going through a certification process with the Chinese aviation regulator. Here’s more.
What is the obsession with flying cars? People can’t navigate 4 way stops or roundabouts much less adding another dimension to figure out. If this comes to pass there will be a lot of carnage. Can I get a nice train system? #flyingCars
In the same week that a whistleblower told members of a congressional hearing that Boeing is taking “manufacturing shortcuts” and “putting out defective airplanes,” the airplane manufacturer has announced its plans to launch its flying car business by the end of the decade.
Boeing CTO Todd Citron said the idea was to tap into demand “for the fast, short-distance travel the vehicles could provide in the region’s traffic-choked cities.” Here’s more from BGR.
"the magic interval when a confidence trickster knows he has the money he has appropriated but the victim does not yet understand that he has lost it" (#JKGabraith)
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Lyft is actually slightly better off than Uber overall. It spent less money on expensive props for its long con - #FlyingCars, #robotaxis, scooters, overseas clones - and abandoned them before Uber did. Lyft also fired 24% of its staff at the end of 2022, which should have improved its margins by cutting its costs.
<<Now, I'm grumpy. I'm feeling mean and spiteful, and it's all because even in the best versions of the future we can imagine now, all we can imagine is lining up for crowded morning commutes in tiny flying hovercars that each have the survivability of a billionaire's custom-built deep ocean sub, if any of them hit anything larger than a seagull.>>
Alef Aeronautics won regulatory approval to begin testing its fully electric flying car. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that it has issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate for Alef’s “Model A” vehicle, according to a CNN report, meaning that it now has legal clearance to fly.
This marked bike lane on the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge is both the Empire State Trail and a NYS Bicycle Highway. That didn't stop NYSDOT from placing these road work signs in the bike lane on an uphill stretch of the bridge with no warning or detour. Cyclists should have been directed to use the sidewalk.
NASA propulsion technology brings 'flying cars' closer to reality (www.space.com)
Will the Epiphany Transporter finally bring us the flying taxis of the future?