Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Commute like George Jetson with Terrafugia’s TF-X, the world’s first flying plug-in hybrid

Ronan Glon
By

Massachusetts-based Terrafugia has published preliminary details about the science fiction-esque TF-X, the world’s first flying plug-in hybrid.

Updated 07-22-2015 by Ronan Glon: Added information about the legal issues that the TF-X faces.

With space for up to four adults, the TF-X drives just like a normal plug-in hybrid. The wings are neatly tucked away in a compartment located above the rocker panels so the TF-X can maneuver through city traffic with ease and fit in the average parking spot or garage.

Related

When the driver is ready to become a pilot, the TF-X’s wings deploy at the push of a button in a matter of seconds.

When the driver is ready to become a pilot, the wings deploy at the push of a button in a matter of seconds. Two electric motors linked to a pair of propellers join forces to generate a megawatt of power, a setup that allows the TF-X to take off vertically just like a helicopter, eliminating the need for a runway.

Once the TF-X is in the air, a 300-horsepower gasoline-burning engine kicks in to complement the electric motors and top up the battery pack. Past a certain speed, the propellers fold out of the way and the thrust needed to hurl the TF-X through the air is generated by a large rear-mounted fan.

A life-sized prototype hasn’t been tested yet, but Terrafugia expects the TF-X will be able to cruise at speeds of up to 200 mph for about 500 miles. The pilot can deploy an on-board parachute if anything goes wrong, through the car will be programmed to avoid bad weather, other aircrafts, and tower-controlled airspace.

Terrafugia predicts it will take the average driver about five hours to learn how to fly a TF-X, but would-be pilots who don’t feel fully comfortable in the cockpit can engage an auto-pilot function that allows the car to fly and land itself. The landing procedure is similar to take-off: the electric motor-driven propellers extend and pivot up, and the car decelerates until it is able to land vertically.

1 of 7
Terrafugia TF-X flying car
Terrafugia TF-X
Terrafugia TF-X
Terrafugia TF-X
Terrafugia TF-X
Terrafugia TF-X
Terrafugia TF-X

On the ground, the wings fold back into their respective compartments and the TF-X can once again be driven like a normal car. The TF-X will be fully street-legal, but regular drivers will only be able to fly in non-tower-controlled air space. Those who wish to travel in regulated zones will need to obtain a special permit.

When we can expect to see the TF-X land — literally and figuratively — is up in the air. Back in 2013, the company suggested its flying car was at least eight years from going on sale, so if that time frame still stands it won’t be available until 2021 at the very earliest. When it enters production, expect the TF-X to cost about the same as a very high-end luxury car.

Bringing the TF-X to the market will be easier said than done, especially considering Terrafugia is a privately held company that largely relies on the benevolence of investors for funding, but the team in charge of the firm has a surprising amount of experience in both building cars that can fly and navigating the legal issues associated with such vehicles.

In 2010, the United States Federal Aviation Authority agreed to exceptionally classify the Transition, the company’s first fully functional model, as a light sport aircraft even though it exceeded the 1,320-pound weight limit by 110 pounds. A year later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the Transition a temporary exemption from several key regulations, allowing it to ride on special tires certified for motorcycles, use windows made out of aircraft-style polycarbonate instead of laminated glass, and go without an electronic stability control (ESC) system.

“The basis for the exemption is that compliance with these requirements would cause substantial economic hardship to a manufacturer that has tried in good faith to comply with the standard,” the NHTSA explained in a statement.

The TF-X will undoubtedly have to clear similar hurdles on its long path from a computer-generated prototype to a production vehicle, but Terrafugia believes that deposits from intrepid early adopters and enthusiastic backing from investors will allow it to become the first company to launch a commercially viable flying car.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
2022 Volkswagen ID. Buzz first drive review: The iconic hippie hauler goes electric
Volkwagen's ID. Buzz drives down the road.

Volkswagen's growing family of ID-badged electric cars has a new mascot: the ID. Buzz. Inspired by the vintage air-cooled Bus models and previewed by a close-to-production concept unveiled in 2017, the heritage-laced van offers an electric powertrain, an eye-catching design, plus an interior that's high-tech and almost lounge-like. I tested a Buzz prototype in England in February 2022 and walked away impressed, and time driving a regular-production model in and around Copenhagen, Denmark, confirmed these impressions. This was worth the wait.
Design and interior
While you can tell that the Buzz is on the same branch of the Volkswagen family tree as the split- and bay-window Buses prized by hippies decades ago, designers decided not to go full-retro as they did with the New Beetle released in 1997. The headlights aren't round, for example, and they're much higher than the original van's. It's the same story out back: The lights are horizontal, located right below the big hatch's window, and connected by a light bar. This is intentional -- Volkswagen aimed to echo the original model without cloning it.

In terms of proportions, the Buzz is pretty spot on. The front end isn't entirely flat and the front doors are positioned behind the front wheels rather than over them, but the design is as close to the old van's as modern regulations allow. The Buzz variant that I drove in Denmark measures 185.5 inches long, 78.1 inches wide, and 76.8 inches tall, so it's about as long as a Tiguan but around 10 inches taller and five inches wider. This is what Volkswagen refers to as the short-wheelbase model, and it's not coming to the United States. We'll get a long-wheelbase model that hasn't been unveiled yet; it should look just like the European-spec model but with more space between the front and rear axles.

Read more
2022 Mercedes-Benz EQB first drive review: An EV better than its gas sibling
Front three quarter view of the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQB.

Mercedes-Benz aims to go all-electric in at least some markets by 2030 but to do that it will need to launch electric equivalents of each of its many gasoline-powered models. The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB fits that description to the letter.

Where the EQS sedan aims to fill a similar role to the S-Class without directly copying it, the EQB is literally an electric version of an existing Mercedes crossover SUV — the GLB-Class. It uses the same body shell as the GLB, even retaining that model’s optional third-row seats.

Read more
2022 Rivian R1S first drive review: An EV SUV fit for an expedition or a drag race
2022 rivian r1s review

Rivian beat the likes of Ford, General Motors, and Tesla to market with an electric pickup truck, but now it’s time for act two.

The 2022 Rivian R1S shares most of its DNA with the Rivian R1T pickup released late last year, but in place of a bed, it has a three-row cabin with seating for seven. It retains the R1T’s distinctive styling, impressive off-road capability, and improbable acceleration, but in a package for drivers who need to carry people instead of stuff.

Read more