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Production of 'world's first flying car' underway
Bay Area company Alef begins production of its flying car. The Model A Ultralight is the first consumer model to be produced by Alef. Video credit: Alef Aeronautics
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Aeronautical and automotive history is being made in the Bay Area with production officially beginning on the world’s first flying car.
The Model A Ultralight is the first consumer model to be produced by Silicon Valley flying vehicle manufacturer Alef.
"We are happy to report that production of the first flying car has started on schedule," CEO Jim Dukhovny announced last week.
Alef Model A with doors open. (Alef Aeronautics)
Hand-assembled in San Mateo
The vehicle is being hand-assembled at Alef's facility in San Mateo, the flying carmaker said.
"It will take several months of hand craftsmanship to create each of the early versions of the Alef flying car," the company said in a news release, noting, "The process involves robotic, industrial, and mostly hand manufacturing."
Alef's Model A Ultralight flying car is being hand-assembled in San Mateo, Calif. (Alef Aeronautics)
What we know:
The vehicle is 100% electric, and the company said it’s the first ever to perform as a road-legal passenger car that has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. It does not require a runway.
The Model A is being built as a low speed vehicle (LSV) which is limited to 25 miles on public roads.
"The assumption is that, if a driver needs a faster route, a driver will use Alef’s flight capabilities," the company noted on its website.
What we don't know:
Alef did not offer a specific date for when the first Model A Ultralights will show up at customers’ doors, and it stressed that the vehicles will first have to undergo thorough testing as part of the initial roll-out process.
"Rigorous testing of individual parts and a large number of test flights of the assembled car are involved during production," the company explained in a news release, adding, "This process will allow Alef to optimize manufacturing before automated mass production."
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The company said only a "few" customers will receive the first vehicles to allow the models to be used under real-world, controlled conditions. Those customers will receive instruction on operating a Model A.
The slow roll-out will be integral to the company's goal of making safety a major focus and priority.
"Alef plans to train, ensure compliance, and provide maintenance to those few early adapters," the company said. "The knowledge gained from this process will support the transition to manufacturing and delivering pre-orders in the queue," Alef added.
Who will be the first ‘few’ owners?
As for who will be the first to get their hands on the new vehicles, the company told KTVU it gave priority to the customers who were the earliest to fill out orders and made the largest deposits.
While no exact number was given, Alef said the number of early customers would not exceed 10.
The company explained that ultimately it would depend on the speed of manufacturing, its resources, funding and safety tests that come out of the first few cars.
The planned deliveries at this point will be made to customers in California and in Hong Kong.
The expected price of the vehicles was about $300K, according to Alef’s website, which also put the cost to get in the preorder queue starting at $150. To get on the priority list, the cost was $1,500.
Alef flying car model parked outside in a residential area. (Alef Aeronautics)
Costs expected to fall
The aeronautics company has addressed the steep price point, noting that with these first productions, manufacturing costs are significant due to the "hand-made in-house level."
But once the vehicles hit high volume and mass production gets underway, Alef said consumers can expect the prices to be far more affordable and even cheaper than the price of popular compact cars.
"Cost should drop down drastically, eventually below levels of Toyota Corolla or Ford Focus," company officials said.
Dig deeper:
All you need is a driver’s license to operate a Model A Ultralight in the U.S., according to Alef.
No special pilot license is required as the Model A falls under the category of being an ultralight vehicle. There are restrictions, however, like only flying during daylight flights and over non-congested areas.
The company said its launch into the electric aviation space is what makes its cars groundbreaking.
And despite its flying abilities, Alef, which describes itself as a sustainable mobility company, stressed that its product was first and foremost a car.
"Designed to drive on the street, take off vertically when needed and fly overhead above traffic," the company said, "we’re building the solution to the issues of modern congestion."
Timeline:
The production of Alef's flying car for consumers has been 10 years in the making.
Coincidentally, it started around the same time as a fictional, Hollywood-produced event.
"Fictional was: Marty McFly, a character from ‘Back To The Future’, traveled to the ‘future’ of October 2015. Real was: 4 founders decided to form a company to build a real flying car," the website shared.
The company said that the first time its flying car concept was put on paper, it was drawn on a napkin at a Palo Alto café in 2015.
"It was assumed it would take about 6 months to build one. Boy, was this an underestimate," the website said.
The first subscale prototype was built in 2016.
It wasn't until 2019 that the company flew its first full-size prototype.
In 2022, the company rebranded as Alef "with a defined mission and vision for a new consumer future."
Over the summer, the company marked a major milestone with the announcement it would begin testing at Half Moon Bay and Hollister airports.
It was the first time ever that cars and aircraft shared the same operational space and the first time in history that an airport was grounds for the vertical take-off of a car, according to Alef.
The company said it has received some 3,500 pre-orders worth $1 billion.
"The team worked hard to meet the timeline, because we know people are waiting," Dukhovny said. "We’re finally able to get production off the ground."
Alef CEO Jim Dukhovny during a flight test. (Alef Aeronautics)