You Can Buy This Electric Flying Car for Under $100,000
We had a chance to see the Jetson One flying machine during its stop in Southern California. Here's what we learned.
- Gold Telly Award, 2X Silver Telly Award
After seeing several videos of the Jetson One flying over golf courses, deserts and trees, we caught our first in-person glimpse of the flying machine in Southern California. At first glance, the Jetson One looks as if a drone and a Formula One car had a baby.
Frontside view of the Jetson One.
In the cockpit, there are two joysticks: one brings the vehicle up and down, and the other controls forward, back, left, right and yaw. With the help of the flight computer, Jetson's co-founder and head of innovation, Tomasz Patan, says anyone can learn to fly it in "minutes."
This lever controls up/down in the Jetson One.
It's fully electric, with the battery tucked underneath the pilot's bucket seat, which is made from carbon fiber and Kevlar. The Jetson One has enough motors that it can stay in flight even after one motor fails. GPS on the top and lidar on the bottom power an automatic-landing feature, and, according to Patan, a ballistic parachute in the back can "save you in the worst case scenario from 20 meters."
The eight propellers are spread out across four arms that fold away for easy storage and transportation.
Jetson One takes flight.
The Jetson One was designed to meet the FAA requirements for an ultralight vehicle, meaning it could be flown without a pilot's license in the US. With a flight time of 20 minutes, the main purpose of the Jetson One is to have a good time and get a taste of what it's like to fly.
The Jetson One is available for sale for $98,000, with an $8,000 deposit. They're still in the testing phase, but senior adviser Rikard Steiber says the company has "hundreds of preorders" and hopes to start having the vehicles hit the skies in the US in less than a year.
To see the Jetson One in action, check out the video in this article.