The flying car is here! Woo! Dutch company PAL-V is on track to begin delivery of its Liberty flying car late next year, with the business officially opening up its order books to customers interested in owning the nearly half-million-dollar vehicle.
Equipped with a pair of engines?one each for ground and air travel?the two-seat Liberty is claimed to weigh a mere 1413 pounds. We assume this figure marks the Liberty’s dry weight, as the vehicle’s 26.4-gallon fuel tank is good for about 160 pounds of weight in gasoline alone. While PAL-V is keeping its lips sealed when it comes to the Liberty’s powertrain specifics, here’s what we do know: Both engines are supplied by the Austrian aircraft-engine manufacturer Rotax, and when left to its own devices on tarmac, the Liberty is said to produce 100 horsepower, achieve fuel economy of 31 mpg, and accelerate to 62 mph in less than nine seconds on its way to a 100-mph top speed.
PAL-V claims that the switch to flying mode takes between five and 10 minutes, with the company noting that most of the conversion process is done via the vehicle’s Semi-Automatic Conversion System, leaving the driver/pilot the task of manually unfolding the Liberty’s rotor blade, propeller, and tail. Entering flying mode transforms the Liberty from a 13.1-foot-long and 5.4-foot-tall car into a 20.1-foot-long and 10.5-foot-tall flying machine. In the sky, the Liberty’s secondary engine makes 200 horsepower and ca...