The state’s 2024 transportation policy bill, which was signed by Governor Tim Walz in May and includes a measure that would categorize roadable aircraft as motor vehicles, went into effect Thursday, allowing cars that can take to the sky using wings or propellers to drive on the highway.

Minnesota joins New Hampshire as the only states to pass what legislators are dubbing “Jetsons laws.”

The measure defines roadable aircraft as “any aircraft capable of taking off and landing from a suitable airfield which is also designed to be driven on public roadways as a motor vehicle.”

“This is how we get to the future of flying cars, which sounds awesome to me,” said Minnesota State Representative Nolan West, a Republican, in March.

On the other hand, Democratic State Representative Larry Kraft said the vehicles should face further scrutiny before hitting the roads, citing fuel use and urban sprawl.

So far, there are no vehicles that are certified as roadable aircraft in the U.S., though several companies are developing what they describe as flying cars.

Samson Sky, for example, is building the “street-legal” Switchblade, a three-wheel design intended to drive as fast as 125 mph and cruise in the air at 139 knots. A Samson analyst provided input to the Minnesota Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee as the flying car bill was taking shape, and the company is pushing for similar legislation elsewhere.

Other drive-and-fly vehicle manufacturers include Alef Aeronautics and Aska, both of which have obtained FAA special airworthiness certification to begin flight testing, Doroni Aerospace, and Terrafugia.

By and large, the companies’ designs are geared toward personal, recreational flight. Owners could drive out of their garage to an airport, where they could take off and fly to a nearby destination like the beach.

Some firms, like Samson and Alef, have reported preorder sales worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Similar personal flying vehicles, such as Pivotal’s BlackFly or Lift Aircraft’s Hexa, have drawn attention and funding from the U.S. military.

The new Minnesota law classifies roadable aircraft as motor vehicles, allowing them to be driven on public roadways. They will need to adhere to FAA regulations in the sky and at airports and follow the rules of transportation regulators on the ground.

The vehicles must take off and land only at airfields and restricted landing areas. Gliding into an interstate landing, for example, would be considered a misdemeanor unless it were an emergency situation—an exception that exists for aircraft in most states.

In lieu of license plates, flying cars driving on public roadways will require registration decals clearly visible in the front and rear. The decals, provided by the state’s transportation commissioner via application, will include the make and model of the vehicle and federally issued tail number. Owners must also register the vehicle with the state as an aircraft. Drivers will be prohibited from unfurling wing and tail components on the road.

Although several flying car manufacturers have already opened the preorder process, roadable aircraft are likely still years away from taking to the road or sky.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis, which similarly mesh two vehicle types—winged aircraft and rotorcraft—have yet to get off the ground despite some manufacturers having begun development more than a decade ago.

The long runway to commercial eVTOL service is due not just to the complexity of designing, building, and testing the aircraft. There’s also plenty of regulatory confusion about how to classify the vehicles and set rules around pilot training, maintenance, and operation.

Flying car manufacturers are attempting to combine two even more disparate vehicles and operate under the domain of multiple transportation regulators, which would seemingly add to the complexity of the path they face. They also lack the backing of the largest eVTOL manufacturers, some of which have raised north of $1 billion.

Like this story? We think you’ll also like the Future of FLYING newsletter sent every Thursday afternoon. Sign up now.

The post Minnesota’s ‘Jetson Law’ Green-Lights Flying Cars on Roads appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

A precursor to Alef Aeronautics’ Model A—in development since 2015 and expected to go on sale for $300,000 by 2025—was awarded an experimental category special airworthiness certificate, becoming the first “true” flying car design with the legal signoff to fly from the U.S. government, according to the company.

“True” is in quotations because the FAA has awarded its blessing to similar models. Terrafugia’s Transition earned special light sport aircraft (SLSA) compliance in 2021, while Samson Sky’s Switchblade was cleared for flight test last July. But neither model is fully electric, and both rely on fixed-wing flight, which restricts the aircraft’s takeoff to airports.

Alef’s Model A, though, is designed to enable takeoff in dense urban settings. Following the Santa Clara, California-based startup’s emergence from stealth in October, CEO Jim Dukhovny explained that the vehicle will primarily drive on roads but will allow users to “hop” around obstacles such as “road conditions, weather, and infrastructure.”

The FAA told FLYING that it issued a special airworthiness certificate for the Armada Model Zero, a precursor to the Model A, on June 12. The agency said the signoff allows the aircraft to be used for limited, experimental purposes, such as exhibition, research, and development.

“Our flights were very limited without this certification,” an Alef spokesperson told FLYING. “This certification now gives us the ability to fly in locations we need (for example, near our headquarters in Silicon Valley) and purposes we need (like exhibition, for example).”

The spokesperson added the certificate will enable Alef’s first public flight demonstrations.

Alef said it has been flying full-scale Model A prototypes since 2019, following four years of research and development. That year, it demonstrated driving, vertical takeoff, and a short forward flight for investors. But the startup was heavily limited by FAA restrictions around large VTOL aircraft.

While its design was being workshopped, Alef caught the attention of Tim Draper, a venture capitalist and early investor in successful companies such as Skype, Tesla, and SpaceX (and an unsuccessful one in Theranos). Draper also provided funding for GM’s driverless car arm, Cruise.

In October 2022, Draper’s Associates Fund V backed Alef with $3 million in seed funding, a modest investment compared to some eVTOL titans. But the startup has since attracted other investors, including Impact Venture Capital, Bronco Ventures, and Jim Boettcher, a founding partner of Focus Ventures.

The company has also been enlisting Swedish designer Hirash Razaghi, who has worked on projects for Bugatti, Jaguar, and Infiniti, to develop the Model A’s exterior since 2021.

All of these developments came to a head in October, when Alef unveiled the Model A to a crowd at Draper’s entrepreneurial school in San Mateo. That press conference provided most of the information we know about the vehicle.

Duchovny told onlookers that the Model A will have a driving range of 200 sm and a flying range of 110 miles (around 95 nm), capable of carrying one passenger. Rather than a single large engine, the design places four smaller engines in the wheels. The driver’s seat is in the middle, surrounded by a mesh outer layer. But the bulk of the design’s infrastructure is simply air—the meshing provides breathing room for the vehicle’s eight propellers, allowing it to lift off vertically.

That’s when the magic supposedly happens. When transitioning from hover to forward flight, the entire vehicle rotates so that its left and right sides become upper and lower wings. The driver’s seat also gyrates into position so that the driver—now a pilot—faces what was the vehicle’s roof in the car configuration. Once everything is aligned, forward flight can commence.

But like any novel technology, there are many questions about the Model A’s feasibility. For one, as Gartner analyst Mike Ramsey pointed out to CNBC, mass production and regulatory approvals present steep challenges for a startup that wants to travel legally both on and above public roads. And the vehicle will need to meet safety standards for both automobiles and aircraft.

For evidence of how difficult Alef’s task may be, look no further than the Model A’s cousin, the air taxi. Firms such as Joby and Archer Aviation have navigated the FAA’s eVTOL certification process for years, held back by safety and regulatory concerns and a lack of clarity around certification requirements.

• READ MORE: DOT: Internal Strife ‘Hindered FAA’s Progress’ on AAM Regs

The flying car, an even more ambitious technology, will face greater scrutiny from multiple agencies within the Department of Transportation. That places Alef’s 2025 launch target in jeopardy.

Knowing this, the firm’s plan is to first certify the Model A in Asia or Europe, where it believes it can get in the air faster. But more questions will arise once the vehicle gets off the ground.

The biggest concern is efficiency. To be commercially viable as a car, Model A will need to at least approach the speed of a typical automobile. And Dukhovny’s plan to initially certify it as a low speed vehicle—limited to speeds of just 25 mph on public roads—doesn’t inspire confidence, despite his assurance the startup will eventually seek full automobile certification.

Then there’s the problem of flying. While winged flying car designs like Terrafugia’s Transition and Samson Sky’s Switchblade are expected to take off from airports, Alef’s is designed to lift off in urban settings, such as congested city streets. That presents major air traffic control challenges because U.S. skies are not yet prepared to be dominated by personal vehicles.

Still, the Model A boasts its share of proponents. In January, Alef revealed it received more than 440 preorders within months of opening presale to the public. Prospective users pay $150 to enter the preorder general queue, or $1,500 to join a priority queue. Those orders, including one by a large Hong Kong-based aviation company, would represent more than $132 million in revenue when realized, the startup said.

In addition to the Model A design, which Model Zero flight tests will support, Dukhovny said Alef is developing a four-seat, $35,000 variant called the Model Z. That version will supposedly have a range of 400 miles on the ground and 200 miles in the air, with introduction planned for 2035.

The post Alef Aeronautics’ Flying Car Design Awarded FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate appeared first on FLYING Magazine.