Skip to main content

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

  • November 23, 2017
    Autumn budget: EV charging infrastructure fund and higher tax rates for diesel vehicles
    Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has announced a £400m ($532m) charging infrastructure fund for electric vehicles (EVs), an extra £100m ($133m) investment in Plug-In-Car Grant, and a £40m ($53m) in charging R&D in the UK’s Autumn Budget 2017. He added that laws need to be clarified so that motorists who charge their EVs at work will not face a benefit-in-kind charge from next year.
  • October 3, 2018
    Carrots are proving cost-effective in Netherlands
    There are lessons to be learned from congestion avoidance schemes in the Netherlands. David Crawford welcomes some new thinking in road pricing. Highway operators worldwide are being urged to learn from Dutch experience in using financial carrots rather than sticks to encourage drivers to avoid contributing to congestion. A Netherlands/UK group makes a convincing cost/benefit case in a new global survey of road pricing technologies, economics and acceptability. Representing the Rijkswaterstaat section of
  • March 29, 2018
    Report highlights community impact of new mobility options
    Local authorities and communities must understand the impacts of the new mobility options and regulate to get the transport systems they want, according to a new report. Colin Sowman takes a look. Outside of the big cities plagued with congestion, the existing transportation system(s) often cope adequately, and the ongoing workload (maintenance, safety…) is more than enough to keep local transport authorities busy. Is it, therefore, a good use of public service employees’ time to keep abreast of the raft
  • March 29, 2018
    Report highlights community impact of new mobility options
    Local authorities and communities must understand the impacts of the new mobility options and regulate to get the transport systems they want, according to a new report. Colin Sowman takes a look. Outside of the big cities plagued with congestion, the existing transportation system(s) often cope adequately, and the ongoing workload (maintenance, safety…) is more than enough to keep local transport authorities busy. Is it, therefore, a good use of public service employees’ time to keep abreast of the raft