Important Innovations

Design with Rotors that Pop Out of the Wheels Toyota's Flying Car Design Concept Toyota's Quadcopter Toyota has applied for a patent on its flying car design.  The wheels have spring-loaded, pop out helicopter rotors.  It has the appearance of a quadcopter.  If you decide you want to fly and get out of a traffic jam, you switch on the flying mode.  The wheels start to fold upwards.  Then, the wheels sprout rotor blades and spin up, providing lift. Drives Like a Tank According to the patent filing, the wheels and rotors would be electric powered.  It's not clear what type of engine would generate the electricity.  The source could be hydrogen fuel cells, EV batteries or some type of combustion engine.  In driving mode, the flying car would steer in a manner similar to tracked vehicles such as a tank. Crowded Skies There are quite a few flying cars getting close to entering the airspace.  Volvo announced it will start selling sister company Terrafugia's fl

PAL-V's Liberty is Ready In 1927, Henry Ford said:  "Mark my words.  A combination airplane and motor car is coming.  You may smile, but it will come."  Talk about a futurist!  He was right on, off  by about 90 years, but the time is now. The Liberty:  Ready for Production, Take-off and Driving This is a second hot prototype flying car we wanted to focus on.  It's the creation of the Netherlands based company PAL-V.  Called The Liberty, the developers claim it's production ready, making it a global first.  And they say it's "Licensed to Thrill". Distinctive Design As you can see in the artist's rendering, the Liberty has a design that's different from other flying car prototypes.  It looks like a helicopter.  And, in fact, there's a center mounted rotor blade on top.  The big deal is that it's production ready.  All it awaits is full certification, which it expects in 2019.  The company says it will start delivering