Latest news with #JimDukhovny
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Incredible footage shows Batmobile-like flying car soaring above traffic: 'It will be a moment similar to the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk video'
California-based Alef Aeronautics has successfully tested its bizarre electric flying car more than a year and a half after it made headlines for its progress. On the ground, it looks sort of like the 1960s Batmobile. In the air, spectators might mistake it for a flying saucer. It's strangely sleek and outlandish at the same time, largely due to its mostly mesh exterior, according to photos shared by Electrek. But none of the visuals matter much as long as it can fly. A 53-second clip shared on YouTube by Urdesign proves the concept. The long, flat vehicle with a circular cockpit is shown flying what looks like around 12 feet in the air, easily clearing other vehicles. "This drive and flight test represents an important proof of technology in a real-world city environment," Alef CEO Jim Dukhovny said in a Urdesignmag story. The car is designed to soar over traffic jams, going from the road to the air seamlessly without a runway. It's sort of like the electric vertical takeoff and landing taxis by Archer Aviation and other companies that are beginning flights. Alef's Model Zero leverages electric power for liftoff with rotors. An ultra-light version was used for testing, all per Urdesignmag. The article provides an apt description of its appearance: Its "mesh exterior conceals four rotors in the front and four in the rear, replacing a typical engine to provide lift. The passenger cabin is centrally located on a pivoting platform." While the contraption can essentially long jump gridlock — a time-saving move shown in an Alef rendering — the prototype won't outrun many cars. It goes about 25 miles per hour, per Urdesignmag. Electrek listed its driving range at 220 miles, with a flight ability of 110 miles — all with electric power. Battery-powered tech continues to advance. The median electric vehicle range for model year 2023 is 270 miles, according to the U.S. government. That's far above the typical American's daily commute of just under 40 miles, Kelley Blue Book reported. Charge times are also becoming shorter, as fast stalls such as Tesla's Superchargers are open to most models (with an adapter) and can provide a couple hundred miles in around 15 minutes. Alef, Archer, and others are providing EV versions of what could become common, cleaner urban conveyances. The Megalux is another example. It's a solar-powered, boatlike car that was showcased at a United Arab Emirates tech event. But it's more demonstrative than practical. Model Zero is meant to enter the market, though Urdesignmag labeled it as Alef's "long-term vision." The company's leaders have already earned some government flight certificates as testing continues. The ambitious goal is to have a flight-capable, four-person sedan on the market by 2035 at a cost of around $35,000. Could flying cars ever become our main transportation method? No way Maybe in 100 years Maybe in 50 years It could happen soon Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The company's more commercial design, the Model A, reportedly has more than 3,300 preorders already in place at a projected cost of $299,999, all per Urdesignmag. Another big win for EVs is efficiency and heat-trapping air pollution reduction. A popular Tesla Model 3 is up to three times more efficient than even a hybrid Toyota Prius, according to EnergySage. Each EV that replaces a gas-guzzler prevents thousands of pounds of tailpipe exhaust from being spewed annually. The fumes are linked to cancer, lung, heart, and other health risks, all according to government emissions and medical data. Switching to an EV can save you up to $1,500 on gas and maintenance costs annually, in addition to tax breaks to help with the purchase. Soon, you might be able to save some time by simply flying over traffic congestion if Alef's vision comes to fruition. "We hope it will be a moment similar to the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk video, proving to humanity that new transportation is possible," Dukhovny said, per Urdesignmag. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This Flying Car Prototype Soars Over a Stopped Car
New videos from Alef Aeronautics show the company's flying car initially driving like a road vehicle, then taking off into a flight that takes it over another vehicle in a simulation of a blocked traffic scenario. The model shown in the demos is the Alef Model Zero Ultralight which, as the name suggests, is a lighter prototype used for research and development. It has some key differences from the company's first production vehicle, the Alef Model A. While the Model Zero Ultralight has a smaller battery to keep its weight down, the larger battery in Alef's Model A is expected to have a flight range of 110 miles or a driving range of 200 miles. Those numbers may increase if the company adopts new battery technology. Thinner and smaller wheels than a traditional car also help reduce the vehicle's weight while allowing it to drive in various conditions. While the Model Zero Ultralight requires an experienced test pilot right now, Alef CEO and co-founder Jim Dukhovny says the Model A will be much easier for an average person to fly. The optimal cruise speed in the air for the Model A is expected to be about 100mph, with the top speed predicted to be about 225mph. On the ground, the car is currently registered as a low-speed vehicle for research and development purposes, which means it is limited to about 25mph top speed. Dukhovny says higher ground speed is possible and the eventual goal; it just requires crash testing and regulatory approval. Until then, the company is not yet ready to crash its prototype. Alef is accepting preorders for its Model A, which is expected to cost around $300,000. Like most startups, the price will likely decrease as production scales up. To see this flying car in action, check out the video in this article.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This might be the first vehicle that drives and flies
Alef Aeronautics has shared the first video of its flying car, Model Zero. CEO Jim Dukhovny hopes this innovation will prove the viability of flying cars and create a new market in transportation, according to Reuters. Sign in to access your portfolio
CNN
27-02-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
This might be the first vehicle that drives and flies
Alef Aeronautics has shared the first video of its flying car, Model Zero. CEO Jim Dukhovny hopes this innovation will prove the viability of flying cars and create a new market in transportation, according to Reuters.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This So-Called Flying Car Sure Seems Like A Miserable Way To Travel
New video surfaced this week of Alef Aeronautics new Model Zero A "flying car" taking off, hovering over a Chevrolet Suburban, and touching down again on the other side. While the non-car media is hailing this as a "world's first" flying car, I hesitate to actually call this thing a flying car because it barely flies, it's barely a car and flying cars aren't a thing. Alef CEO and co-founder Jim Dukhovny has been endeavoring for an entire decade to build this half-assed contraption, and says it will reach production later this year, you know, if nothing goes wrong. "If everything goes right, if we have enough funds, if the legislation does not get worse, we plan to start production of the first one by the end of 2025," is what Dukhovny told a CNBC reporter back in April. Everything about this machine seems supremely sketchy. Judging from how loud it is, to how floaty and uncontrolled it looks in the air to how small and narrow the wheels are, it is a high level of bad idea to sign up for by getting in one of these. At the car-hopping test Dukhovny told a reporter from the Independent "...this drive and flight test represents an important proof of technology in a real-world city environment. We hope it will be a moment similar to the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk video, proving to humanity that new transportation is possible." In fairness, the Model Zero A looks about as stable and capable as the Wright Flyer was 112 years ago. This video (below) is less a demonstration of human ingenuity and more what seems to be a Silicon Valley grift to raise more funds for Alef to keep working on this flimsy vaporware piece of crap. The Model Zero A is a very small and lightweight pod for one person with a quartet of really big, really loud drone propellers under the bodywork. The drone rotors can't lift a ton of weight, so passenger capacity is limited to just 250 pounds. The company says it has over 3,000 pre-orders for the $300,000 electric drone with vaguely car-shaped bodywork. As a car the Model Zero A can allegedly do 198 miles on a full battery, but as an aircraft you can cut that figure in half. The company will begin working on a more fiscally responsible version in the coming years, which it calls Model Z, allegedly for just $35,000. I'll believe that when I see it. Read more: GM Hopes A Clutch Pedal Is Enough To Make Enthusiasts Buy EVs The Model Zero A prototype owes its questionably automobile-shaped aesthetics to its ability to "fly." Each of the Model Zero's rotors are hidden under the car's mesh-and-skirts bodywork, which allows for air to pass through the upper structure of the car, and the solid vertical surfaces acting as a shroud for the rotors. Alef says that the car is designed to be driven most of the time, then operate as an eVTOL when you need to jump over a traffic jam. "We're building the solution to the issues of modern congestion," claims the Alef website. The car is sized to drive in a regular lane and park in a regular parking space or garage. How that plastic skirting along the bottom is supposed to hold up under doing regular car things is anyone's guess. I'm a big fan of automakers trying to figure out how to build more efficient and super-lightweight commuter electric vehicles with 200 miles of range, but when they added the fans to make the car fly, they lost me. The whole idea of eVTOLs scares the crap out of me, and Alef doesn't do anything different enough to alleviate my fears. Not only do I not want a car that can fly, I don't want other people to have them either. The amount of poorly trained drivers on the road is already too high, you're going to give them the power of flight, too? The idea that a thousand pounds of spinning blades and carbon fiber can just drop out of the sky while I'm minding my own business sitting in traffic sounds like a nightmare. And on top of that, the thing sounds like a swarm of angry bees when you fire up the rotors. Don't give Americans access to this kind of machine, it will only end in death. Read the original article on Jalopnik.
