Burt Rutan designs hybrid flying car

Aaron Richardson — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:29:00 EST

There have been a lot of tries at making a functional flying car over the years, but things haven't really gotten off the ground yet, considering we aren't all bopping from place to place like George Jetson. Burt Rutan from Scaled Composites has taken a new stab at a workable flying car with the Rutan Designs Model 367 "Bipod."

It's a bi-pod airplane with a 31-foot wingspan when you want it to be, and a seven-foot-wide, deliciously odd grocery getter when you don't. There's a lot that's novel about the design, including its Chevrolet Volt-like gasoline generator powering electric motors that makes up its propulsion system.

Rutan also addressed the problem of unifying car and airplane controls by putting each set of controls in a separate pod. On the right, you have a yoke for when you're airborne. On the left, the controls for travel on terra firma.

The Model 367 cruises at 100 miles per hour, and has an estimated range of 760 miles. Push it, and you can hit 200, but that knocks your range down to just 530 miles. For what it's worth, Rutan says this will be his last project before his previously announced retirement goes into effect. See the complete press release after the break.

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Burt Rutan designs hybrid flying car originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Automotive X-Prize releases rules for 2009 race

Frank Filipponio — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:34:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Trends, Green, Technology

Sister-blog AB Green just posted this story about X-Prize. Remember X-Prize? They were the organization that put up a considerable sum of money to reward the first person to successfully go into outer space with their own spacecraft. After Burt Rutan won that first X-Prize with his SpaceShip 1, the foundation decided to get its head out of the clouds, so to speak. As a follow-up to the space program, you can probably guess what their new contest is all about, considering we're covering it on AB and AB Green. The new Automotive X-Prize is designed "to inspire the development of commercially viable, super efficient vehicles that move beyond the petroleum monoculture." Think green here.

X-Prize released their initial set of rules recently to see what everybody thinks about the plan. Basically it's a race for "production viable vehicles" that get the equivalent of at least 100 mpg and meet some strict emissions requirements. And they really want cars that can actually be produced. No science fiction one-offs here. Split into two classes, two races are planned for sometime in 2009 to evaluate the projects. The first class sounds like the more practical and familiar group, requiring seating for at least four passengers and being driven by at least four wheels. The second category should be the fun one. While they require it seat at least two people, there is no wheel requirement. X-Prize will unveil the first draft publicly at the New York Auto Show, but you can read the draft as a PDF by clicking here.

And we encourage you to click the read link to see AB Green's exclusive interview with Auto X-Prize's Mark Goodstein.

[Source: Automotive X-Prize via AutoblogGreen]

Automotive X-Prize releases rules for 2009 race originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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