It seems like I’ve been reading about the Moller Skycar for at least ten or fifteen years now, and always with the promise that it will be on sale within two or three years. Hell, I remember seeing his earlier prototypes on TV in the 1970’s.
You have been able to pre-order the car for several years now.
What’s the hold up?
(Posted in GQ as I suspect this has a factual answer. Mods, feel free to move as appropriate.)
This kinda sums it up nicely I think:
Aircraft are compromises. A Cessna 172 Skyhawk is economical and has good short-field capability, but it’s relatively slow. A T-38 Talon is fast, but not at all economical and would have a rough time landing at smaller airports. A Robinson R-22 is economical (for a helicopter), but it can’t lift very much. A Bell 206 JetRanger is about 50% faster, carries more passengers, and can lift more weight; but it uses an expensive turbine (jet – hence the name) engine, burns more fuel, and has more expensive components. So you have to reckon the mission you want to perform, all of the costs, and what capabilities you need vs. capabilities you can do without. Then you can design your aircraft.
Here’s where the Moller falls down. It’s expensive. Eight engines are eight engines, and all of them will need maintenance and rebuilding. (I haven’t been following Moller, but the last I saw he was using very expensive turbines because they’re lighter and put out more power.) Its capabilities don’t match the mission as well as other aircraft. A helicopter can do it better, and less expensively. Of course helicopters are ill-suited to long flights. Fortunately there’s the trusty old Skyhawk – which also performs its function more efficiently and more cheaply than a Moller.
The only thing a Moller does is (alledgedly) take off more quietly than a helicopter. Perhaps it can be driven on the ground like a car as well, but even then you have an issue with compatibility with traffic. Would you want a couple of big fans in front of you, blowing debris into the car you just drove off of the showroom floor? Communities would likely pass laws defining a Skycar as an aircraft, and restricting them just as they do helicopters and airplanes. (Many communities will not allow a pilot to land a helicopter in his yard, for example.) So the one thing a Skycar alledgedly can do will (most likely) be restricted to operations from airports – in which case, why not spend less and fly an airplane?
There will be licensing. If you need a pilots certificate, why not just fly an airplane or a helicopter? Again, current aircraft are cheaper and more efficient at flying.
When will the Skycar be ‘ready’? When it can do what Moller claims it will be able to do without using the same technology that is already being used efficiently in normal aircraft.
An interesting thread from a couple of years ago showing why no flying car will ever be practical.
Some people consider Moller to be a borderline con man, or at least someone who consistently fails to deliver on his promises: