The market for flying cars has taken off
Pivotal is the first company to supply the first electric aircraft that can drive anyone, with orders opening Jan. 9 and shipments starting next June
Flying cars are a reality and the market ready to go. In some time, you can bet, owning an eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) will be the prerogative of every American millionaire who, next to Bentleys, Lamborghinis and other luxurious cars, will sport in the garden of his mansion a nice personal drone ready to provide moments of pure fun.
For those who missed a bit, passenger drones are now a reality, and it won't be long before we see them whizzing over our heads (in Italy, there is talk of an operational cab service in 2026). After much (and much-needed) testing by companies eager to grab a piece of the promising market, the first significant step toward the vertical evolution of transportation has been taken: the first eVTOLs are for sale, and anyone (i.e., those who can afford them) will be able to ride one.
The first company to christen the new market is Pivotal, launching the sale of Helix Light, the first scalable production electric vehicles
.In three versions, you will be able to use it without a flight license
To soar through the air in the Helix, no pilot's license will be needed in the United States, but only the $190,000 expected for the basic version, about the same as a Lamborghini Huracan. After mandatory training, the single-seat aircraft will have to be limited to flying in Class G airspace, that is, over uncongested and sparsely populated areas. The new Helix - available in 3 variants - is built on the fourth generation of the American company's eVTOL platform that has been in operation since 2011 and introduces many improvements over the last BlackFly version.
The "entry level" model is on sale for $190,000 (about 174,000 euros), while purchasing the premium "Pack 3" version will require about $260,000 (about 237,000 euros). In this case, one will be able to order an aircraft with a custom livery, a more advanced cockpit and equipped with aircraft warning lights, an emergency locator transmitter, three battery chargers, and the option to have a friend or family member join the training course.
Pivoltal's light aircraft will be equipped with cutting-edge technologies and technical improvements to enable them to ensure safety, comfort and durability. There is support for future replaceable next-generation batteries, improved cloud connectivity for telematics data transmission, and electronic hardware that can be updated via dedicated app. Plus a durable livery that reduces the effects of weather, age and solar load, extending the life of the structure and improving rider comfort. Other options include transport trailer, fast charging, aviation radio or GSM, ADS-B flight tracking system, and bright beacons.
Competitors coming soon
That of Advanced Air Mobility promises to be a market with golden eggs. The firm PwC predicts growth by 2030 of 20-25 percent, worth an estimated 38-55 billion euros, and according to research by the Milan Polytechnic's Observatory on Drones, there are about 250 global advanced air mobility projects activated between 2019 and mid-2022, more than 30 percent of which are in Europe alone.
Pivotal is the first to mass produce them, but the certainty is that others will follow in the short term. Suzuki is in the game and has announced that it is ready to launch a two-seat electric flying car in 2025 as an air cab service at the Osaka World Expo8910 and begin its mass production. The Japanese giant has invested in SkyDrive, a company specializing in the development of flying cars and cargo drones with more than 10 years of experience and which won approval from the Japanese Ministry of Transport to certify its commercial aircraft in 2017. Germany's Volocopter is leading the way in providing Europe's first flying cabs capable of carrying up to four passengers and with the first stations already in production.
Xpeng, one of the leading electric vehicle manufacturers in China, has also announced plans to mass produce its Aeroht flying car. Again, this is a flying car, but with a decided edge. In fact, Xpeng's flying car will be modular in design, with the exterior of the vehicle being a six-wheeled van resembling Tesla's Cybertruck and the interior divided into two parts. The front one accommodating driver and passenger, but with the rear portion being nothing more than the flying module, which once at the destination can be detached from the body of the van and be used for low-level flights to any place reachable by a road. To get this little gem will not have to wait long: deliveries are expected by the end of 2025.