The Music CarĪnother concept mentioned in the press material is the Music Car. The program is Volkswagen’s move to build a long-term presence in the Chinese automotive community. The project was intended to run for only a year, but it has proven so successful that it has been kept open for an indefinite period. The program was created to recruit Chinese engineers for its Asian operations. Its automated safety features constantly monitor the vehicle’s surroundings for potential dangers and will take over control when a crash is eminent. The Hover Car is controlled by a joystick that resembles the vehicle in miniature. It is an all-electric, zero-emission, disk-like craft with a tail in the back that travels in a vertical orientation via “MagLev,” or magnetic levitation. The spherical, two-seater VW hover car is one of the more interesting vehicles unveiled at the 2012 show. The People’s Car ProjectĬhina’s recent Beijing auto show unveiled some of the concepts created for the People’s Car Project, a program launched by Volkswagen in the world’s largest nation last year. It is the 21st century and we still are without the flying cars foretold by “The Jetsons.” But Volkswagen may be working on the next best thing: a car that hovers and travels on an invisible magnetic cushion. In the not-too-distant future, though, we could look up to see the skies abuzz with flying taxis, personal vehicles, and driverless rideshares-and we may even be able to lift off out of traffic to fly straight to our destinations.The 'MagLev' super speed train in Japan uses a technology similar to the VW Hover Car. For now there will be just one of them roaming the streets with an official EU license plate. However, PAL-V can’t actually start production of the car until it passes quality tests with the Netherlands Vehicle Authority. The standard, or Sport model, will go on sale next, at a price of $399,000. PAL-V says it hired Italian designers to make the car’s design elegant, and the interior is full leather. The first 90 vehicles sold will be the Liberty’s limited edition, called the Pioneer with a pre-tax price tag of $599,000, it won’t come cheap that price includes $150,00 worth of options and the model is being marketed as highly personalizable. PAL-V expects to complete its certification with the European Aviation Safety Agency in 2022 (it’s been in the process since 2015). There will also need to be regulations about how high the cars can fly they of course wouldn’t be able to go anywhere near the 30,000-foot cruising altitude of planes, but there’s a big difference between flying 200 feet above the ground versus 1,000 feet above the ground (and everything in between)-and in fact, the Liberty’s maximum operating altitude is listed as 3,500 meters, which is just under 11,500 feet. there will need to be designated areas or even “lanes” in the air that drivers (or maybe they should be called pilots?) have to stick to to avoid colliding with buildings, trees-and other flying cars. That will involve a lot of regulations, clearance from aviation and city commissions, and careful consideration of safety measures, i.e. Speaking of which, big spoiler: the car isn’t allowed to fly yet. Liberty’s engineers will likely work on streamlining the process in future models. Switching between flying to driving modes isn’t just a simple matter of extending the rotors or folding them away it’s a process that takes several minutes. For comparison’s sake, the average helicopter can go up to about 160 miles per hour. In driving mode the Liberty can go up to 99 miles per hour, and in flight mode its max speed is 112 miles per hour. It needs a runway at least 590 feet long for takeoff and 100 feet long for landings. So while the car can hover like a helicopter, it can’t take off or land vertically. The Liberty is a gyrocopter, which means rotors on top provide lift, but they’re not powered by the engine a separate propeller engine on the back of the car provides thrust.
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