As cities around the world seek new and innovative ways to combat the interminable challenge of road congestion, one Israeli-based startup claims to have a solution. 

 

Founded by Guy and Maki Kaplinksy, NFT Inc. is working to develop a revolutionary autonomous flying electric car that could circumvent heavy traffic. In some big cities, such as San Francisco or New York City, it is common for the wealthy to use private helicopters to avoid traffic jams, but this option is unaffordable for the vast majority of people. NFT’s mission is not only to make a flying electric vehicle but also to make it more affordable than taking a private helicopter flight, with the expectation that companies like Uber and Gett would add these flying vehicles to their ride-sharing fleets.  

 

NFT is aiming for an initial price tag of somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000, while projecting that the price will decrease after initiating commercial production. According to Guy Kaplinsky, “Our main emphasis, alongside safety, is reducing costs by using off-the-shelf components.” At a Las Vegas technology expo in January, the company projected that the final price tag of the vehicle would be around $50,000, yet much remains to be determined before that mark is reached. 

 

One of the major hurdles for commercial production of flying vehicles is regulation. Having tens or hundreds of flying vehicles in the air without any oversight could be a recipe for disaster. “There still has to be a limit to the number of these things that can be in the air at once,” says Mike Ramsay, Gartner automotive analyst. 

NFT recently unveiled their latest design for the vehicle named “Aska”, which translates from Japanese to “flying bird”. Aska is designed to be equipped with 14 propellers as well as retractable wings that extend the two-meter-wide vehicle to 12-meters with the wings fully extracted. NFT predicts that the vehicle will be able to carry up to three passengers for over 550 kilometers at a speed somewhere between 160 km-per-hour and 240 km-per-hour. The vehicle design is electric but calls for a petrol engine in order to charge the batteries. In addition to flying, the vehicle will also be capable of functioning like a traditional car on the road albeit with a very unique and modern design. 

 

If NFT is able to bring this product to fruition, it could have the added benefit of allowing more people to live further from city-centers where they can find more affordable homes. This could also help mitigate the rising problem of overpopulation in major cities around the world. NFT is set to present the Aska Drive & Fly vehicle design today at the Ecomotion 2019 smart mobility show in Tel Aviv.