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.

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The Slovak Transportation Authority (CAA) awarded the certification after more than 70 test flight hours and 200 takeoffs and landings compatible with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) standards, the company said in a statement Monday. The futuristic flying car can transform between airworthy and street legal within two minutes.

“AirCar certification opens the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars. It is official and the final confirmation of our ability to change mid-distance travel forever,” said Klein Vision CEO Stefan Klein.

Eight specialists at Klein Vision put in more than 100,000 man hours to design, model, and test the two-seat vehicle. According to Klein Vision, AirCar will eventually reach speeds over 300 km/h (162 knots) with a range of 1,000 km (540 nm). Its CEO also served as the AirCar’s sole test pilot.

“Professor Stefan Klein is the world leader in the development of user-friendly flying cars. His latest (fifth) version is the pinnacle achievement in the new category of flying cars,” said Branko Sarh, Boeing senior technical fellow. “The automated transition from road vehicle into an air vehicle and vice versa, deploying/retracting wings and tail is not only the result of pioneering enthusiasm, innovative spirit and courage; it is an outcome of excellent engineering and professional knowledge.”

The AirCar is powered by a 1.6L BMW engine, but the company has already completed tests of an upgraded ADEPT Airmotive aviation engine, expected to be lighter and more powerful. According to the company, the flight tests involved a full range of flight and performance maneuvers, and the vehicle can conduct takeoff and landing procedures without pilot input.

“[The] Transportation Authority carefully monitored all stages of unique AirCar development from its start in 2017. [Transportation] safety is our highest priority. AirCar combines top innovations with safety measures in line with [European Aviation Safety Agency] standards. It defines a new category of a sports car and a reliable aircraft. Its certification was both a challenging and fascinating task,” said René Molnár, the director of the Transport Authority of Slovakia.

After the planned upgrades, Klein Vision expects its next production model to be certificated in 12 months.

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Aspen Avionics announced that its Evolution E1000 has been selected as the flight deck avionics suite for the PAL-V flying car. The PAL-V has road certification in Europe already, and has finalized its full certification basis under EASA as of February this year. The next phase is the compliance demonstration—during which the PAL-V Liberty will satisfy the agreed-upon criteria with EASA.

When the road to certification began in 2009, PAL-V made an agreement with EASA to utilize the existing Certification Specifications for Small Rotorcraft, CS-27, with the adoption of roughly 1,500 criteria in order to make it apply to the Liberty. The updated standards, were published in 2020 for a peer review, with the final iteration published in February 2021. Cees Borsboom, head of airworthiness for PAL-V, commented on the process. “The sign-off of 1,500 requirements already in 2012, before starting manned test flights, was the beginning,” said Borsboom in a press release. “The development of the requirements started in 2009. More than 10 years of analysis, test data, flight tests, and drive tests, led to this important milestone. In parallel, we already started compliance demonstration to obtain the type certificate, which will be followed by delivery of vehicles to our customers.”

“Getting a flying car to the market is hard. It takes at least 10 years,” said Robert Dingemanse, PAL-V’s CEO, summing up what a legacy of would-be aircraft manufacturers have found before. “Although we are experienced entrepreneurs, we learned that in aviation everything is exponentially stricter. Next to the aircraft, all aspects of the organization, including suppliers and maintenance parties must be certified.”

That led to the recent announcement by Aspen Avionics, including the E1000 Evolution now amongst those certified elements. “We designed the Evolution product display over 15 years ago to be the most flexible and affordable electronic flight instrument system in the general aviation marketplace,” said Cory Relling, international regional sales manager, Aspen Avionics. “With over 20,000 displays installed worldwide, we never imagined that an Aspen primary flight display would be among those installations in the first commercial flying car.”

“Aspen Avionics has been a trusted partner in the development of the PAL-V Liberty flying car,” said Jeroen van de Braak, supply chain manager at PAL-V. “Over the 10-year journey of design and flight testing, we were determined to install systems that have a proven track record; with equipment that is easy to operate and companies that share our determination of safety as a key factor in PAL-V’s development. Aspen Avionics checked all the boxes.”

The EASA validation and eventual type certification will be valid for operations in 80 percent of the world market, including the US and China.

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