• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • Ford Announces Massive Solar Power Program – Michigan Factories to Use 100% Green Energy
  • Lucid Turns to The Dark Side
  • Ford Hikes F-150 Lightning Prices as Much as $7,000
  • 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport Does a Where’s Waldo Impression
  • EVs, Executives and More on the Latest Headlight News Podcast
  • Tesla Accused of False Advertising by California DMV
  • FTC Proposes Crackdown on Shady Auto Dealer Practices
  • Tesla Overtakes Mercedes-Benz in Europe
  • Two Years Late, Tesla Cybertruck Will Now Cost More
  • U.S. Senate’s Inflation Reduction Act Reinstates EV Tax Credits — With Limits
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2022 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid EX AWD
    • A Week With: 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI 2.0 Autobahn
    • A Week With: 2022 Infiniti QX60 Luxe AWD
    • First Drive: 2023 Genesis G90
    • A Week With: 2022 BMW M4 Competition xDrive Convertible
    • A Week With: 2022 Jaguar F-Pace R Dynamic S
    • A Week With: Genesis GV70 3.5T AWD Sport Prestige
    • First Drive: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQB
    • We Drive the Record-Setting Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automobiles > Terrafugia Wants to Build Flying Plug-in Hybrid

        Terrafugia Wants to Build Flying Plug-in Hybrid

        Computer controlled, concept would require as little as 5 hours training to fly.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        April 29, 2014
        The Terrafugia TF-X would travel 500 miles on a plug-in hybrid power train. However, it's not likely to be ready for another decade.

        Flying cars have long been the stuff of science fiction, though plenty of entrepreneurs and visionaries have struggled to make the concept a reality – including no less than the original Henry Ford.

        Several projects are now underway and one, started by a group of MIT alumni, is rapidly working its way towards reality. But the former college cronies apparently are dreaming about taking their original Transition flying car a giant leap further into the wild blue yonder with an even more advanced design they’ve dubbed the TF-X.

        Subscribe and Stay on Top!

        To start with, the four-seater would be capable of vertical take-offs and landings. And since it would largely be controlled by a central computer network, the TF-X would, claims a Terrafugia promotional video, require a pilot/driver to have as little as five hours of training, a slight fraction of what it now takes to get the most basic private pilot’s license.

        Developers of the Terrafugia TF-X suggest it be thought of a plane that drives. At 19 feet long, it can be parked in a regular garage.

        Oh, and if that isn’t appealing enough, the team says their newest flying car design would use an environmentally friendly plug-in hybrid powertrain.

        The Massachusetts-based Terrafugia has been drawing plenty of attention to itself thanks to the Transition, a $280,000 flying car that has been slowly working its way through the complex product development and federal regulatory process. Just 19 feet long, it was designed to fit inside a typical suburban garage once its 27-foot wings were folded up, allowing it to drive on any conventional road.

        “Don’t think of it as a car that flies,” suggested Carl Dietrich, one of the MIT students now serving as Terrafugia’s CEO. “Think of it as a plane that drives.”

        Perhaps, but beyond the ability to fold up those wings, the Terrafugia would operate pretty much like any aircraft, needing a long runway to get airborne. With the TF-X, the company is moving closer to the sort of craft one might envision the sci-fi cartoon family, the Jetsons, would own.

        For one thing, Terrafugia claims the four-seater could get airborne from a level clearing of as little as 100 feet, rotating its twin wing-mounted propeller motors to a vertical position. Airborne, they would rotate back to a conventional, forward position – much like the bigger Osprey flown by the U.S. military.

        Once in the air, the TF-X is envisioned capable of reaching 200 mph and delivering a full 500 miles of range – plus reserves – enough for a quick jaunt from Washington, D.C. to Boston, or from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

        The craft could be flown manually by a licensed pilot, or essentially flown on an advanced autopilot system requiring only minimal training. The computer network it would plug into, Terrafugia claims, would automatically sidestep crowded air lanes, as well as bad weather, and could land the craft even if the pilot were to become incapacitated. Should a more serious problem occur, the TF-X is outfitted with its own parachute.

        (Over half of new vehicles now deliver at least 23 mpg. For more, Click Here.)

        So, TF-X “should be statistically safer than driving a modern automobile,” the company asserts.

        (Click Here for more details about the BMW and Mercedes-Benz recalls of 400,000 vehicles.)

        The craft could prove particularly appealing to green-minded flying enthusiasts thanks to its unusual plug-in hybrid powertrain. In total, it will be able to produce 1,500 horsepower, 600 from each of the electric motors driving the propellers, and 300 from the gasoline engine that will serve as a generator when the TF-X’s battery pack runs down.

        (To see the Trident, the world’s fastest diesel sports car, Click Here.)

        How soon can you order one? Terrafugia claims the development process will likely take it eight to 12 years.

        Considering the time it has taken to get the comparatively simpler Transition airborne, few would be surprised if it takes even longer. Indeed, a century of efforts have yet to make the aerocar a practical reality, though Terrafugia is just one of a number of companies now seemingly close to cracking the code and making a sci-fi dream finally become a reality.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        Ford - DTE Solar

        Ford Announces Massive Solar Power Program – Michigan Factories to Use 100% Green Energy

        Today

        Lucid Turns to The Dark Side

        Yesterday

        Ford Hikes F-150 Lightning Prices as Much as $7,000

        Yesterday

        One response to “Terrafugia Wants to Build Flying Plug-in Hybrid”

        1. Tom says:
          May 1, 2014 at 9:55 am

          People have been looking to the skies since before the Wright Brothers for flight.

          There have been several private individuals who have attempted to ‘get it off the ground’ and build their own aerial mode of transportation.

          http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=flying+ford+pinto&qpvt=flying+ford+pinto&FORM=IGRE&adlt=strict#view=detail&id=49E81E850355611573352420BB82FFB621AC4F07&selectedIndex=4

          And for all of those who laugh – thinking of using the ‘exploding’ Ford Pinto wasn’t a good idea – Ralph Nader over exaggerated their ‘explosive’ tendencies and owners of these vintage classics are very loyal… and no, I don’t own one… 🙂

          Reply

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2022
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: