PAL-V unveils ‘world’s first production model flying car’

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is no longer just the stuff of children’s fiction, according to a Dutch company. Although sceptics suggest that flying cars will remain fantasy for many years to come, PAL-V has revealed the Liberty Pioneer, which it says is the world's first production model. At the Geneva International Motor Show, the company claimed that it is built for “those that want to be part of a unique group that writes history with us”. That ‘unique group’ will almost certainly need deep pockets: just
March 7, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is no longer just the stuff of children’s fiction, according to a Dutch company.

Although sceptics suggest that flying cars will remain fantasy for many years to come, PAL-V has revealed the Liberty Pioneer, which it says is the world's first production model.

At the Geneva International Motor Show, the company claimed that it is built for “those that want to be part of a unique group that writes history with us”.

That ‘unique group’ will almost certainly need deep pockets: just 90 of the limited edition Liberty Pioneer model will be made and the price of the vehicle has not been released. "Although more and more flying concepts are announced, only a handful of companies work on a real flying car: one that can both fly and drive, ideal for city-to-city mobility,” says Mike Stekelenburg, chief engineer at PAL-V.

“The combination offers unprecedented freedom: personal door-to-door flying mobility. The gyroplane principle not only provides us with a safe and easy-to-operate flying car but it also enables us to make it compact and within existing regulations, which is the most important factor to build a useable flying car,” he adds.

The vehicle has a dual control cockpit and electronic flight instrument system.

Related Content

  • Connected vehicles - potential to transform US transportation
    April 12, 2013
    There’s a new face in the driving seat at the US Department of Transport’s ITS Joint Program Office. Fortunately, as Robin Meczes finds out, he’s no learner driver… Ask Kenneth Leonard why he wanted his new job as director of the ITS Joint Program Office, and his answer comes back without a second’s delay. “The potential to save lives, reduce injuries and help people enjoy a more efficient transportation system is the kind of challenge that makes me want to come to work each morning,” he says. “In my opinio
    Read More
  • TRL: Cities must do more to help VRUs
    May 9, 2019
    UK cities must learn from the Netherlands and Denmark if active travel and increased safety for vulnerable road users are to co-exist, says TRL’s Marcus Jones Active travel’ refers to modes of transport in which physical effort is required to undertake purposeful journeys - for example, walking or cycling to school, work or the local shops, as well as walking and standing as part of accessing public transport. The benefits of replacing short car journeys with more active forms of transport are obvious. Act
    Read More
  • Report: AVs and MaaS could ‘reduce traffic by 14%’
    May 16, 2019
    If you replace today’s traditional private car ownership with a mixture of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and on-demand autonomous vehicles (AVs) running door-to-door, you could make dramatic cuts in city traffic, according to new research. The Oslo Study – How autonomous cars may change transport in cities shows that, “in the most optimistic scenario a reduction of 14 % traffic is possible”. But researchers warn that the traffic reduction potential “is less than estimated in previous studies from other citi
    Read More
  • MaaS: 'It's been much easier to convince politicians than we expected'
    August 11, 2021
    As she leaves the Mobility as a Service sector, Piia Karjalainen explains why the user must continue to be the focus – and why we haven’t yet even seen half of the innovations available 
    Read More

Highlighted Content