The five flying cars
There are more than 100 flying car designs bouncing around tarmacs, but analyst firm Roland Berger has distilled that into five main types of vehicle based on their rotors, wings and how they’ll be used. Multicopter
Picture a helicopter-style chassis, lifted from the ground by dozens of tiny rotors. This design is better for shorter flights, making it a possible contender for an air taxi. One example is the German-built Volocopter; the latest model carries two passengers at a speed of 70km/h for up to 27km.
Quadcopter
This time, picture a drone – but make it bigger. These are also ideal for shorter flights, with the leading example, the Chinesemade Ehang 184 AAV, capable of 100km/h speeds over 15km. And, unlike the other VTOLs, quadcopters are autonomous.
Hybrids
These are a mix between a quadcopter or multicopter design and a plane – imagine a helicopter with drone rotors that change position from spinning flat overhead to vertical, like a plane’s propeller. One example is the Bell Nexus, perhaps the frontrunner for flying cars. This helicoptermaking company is working with Uber, and the Nexus already promises a 240km range at speeds above 200km/h. However, this version isn’t yet electric.
Tilt-wing/convertible
This design looks less like a large drone or helicopter and more like an odd plane. The engines are on the wings, which can be tilted, facing the engines downward for thrust for takeoff, before tilting back into horizontal position to be used as a more traditional jet engine. These designs should be able to go faster for longer, making them ideal for short-haul flights between cities. One example is the Airbus Vahana, which has speeds of 90km/h and a range of 100km.
Fixed wing with vectored thrust
Rather than the wing tilting to put the engines into position for a vertical takeoff, with this design the jets move, leaving the wings fixed. This is the idea used by the Lilium Jet, which looks like a small plane, but its 36 mini jet engines point downwards for thrust during liftoff, before moving into their usual position to fly forward. The firm says its Jet can travel 300km in an hour, making it a possible replacement for short-haul flights or connecting cities that lack direct public transport links.