Aston Martin reveals its flying vehicle design
New Aston Martin flying car could take the wealthy from London to Birmingham in half an hour
Uber, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce... Now Aston Martin joins flying vehicle craze, unveiling a prototype vehicle at the Farnborough Airshow yesterday.
The British luxury car manufacturer is the latest to announce its plans at the Farnborough Airshow, just after another British luxury car manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, revealed its own airborne vehicle. The two companies teamed up, and with the help of Cranfield University, the companies hope to create powerful engines for their vehicles.
The aircraft will use a hybrid-electric engine and will adopt the vertical take-off and landing system (VTOL) found in most other flying vehicle designs such as the Rolls-Royce vehicle (below).
The flying vehicle hasn't been built yet not has a market been mentioned, but with an estimated price of £3m - £5m it's obviously going to be only for the very wealthy. Aston Martin is positioning the vehicle for urban air travel to avoid heavy traffic down below, though with its high speeds of around 200mph it could easily travel long distances in a short amount of time. The craft will seat three people, including the driver.
In an interview with Auto Express, Simon Sproule, Aston Martin's vice president and chief marketing officer, said: "The study would lead us to a craft that would be able to do London to Paris non-stop in about an hour. As the crow flies that's about 200-250 miles, at a speed of about 200mph. Birmingham to London could be done in half an hour."
Aston Martin's creation will most likely be one of the most luxurious personal flying vehicles. It will land vertically so it could share landing pads with helicopters.
No dates have been confirmed by Aston Martin for the release of the aircraft, but if it follows the pattern of other companies with the same ambitions, expect to see it in the skies sometime next decade.
So far Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin have announced their prototypes at the Farnborough Airshow, and more are to be expected as the show continues through to Sunday.