Aeromobil: The Flying Hybrid
-
- Image Credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images
This hybrid car is not like any other
Although the number of electrified vehicles at Frankfurt borders on the bewildering, there is one serial hybrid that is nothing like the others. It deploys a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that is used to drive an electric front wheel drive system that uses two electric motors and an electric differential for a total 110 horsepower ... which also has a wingspan of 8,800 mm.
While the AeroMobil from the Bratislava-based company of the same name is a car that goes from 0 62 miles per hour in what the company says is in 10 seconds and a top speed of 100 mph, it is also a two-passenger aircraft with a maximum cruising range of some 466 miles.
Take a closer look at the AeroMobil by clicking on the image above.
-
- Image Credit: ERIC PIERMONT via Getty Images
A propellor at the rear, and electric motors at the front
When the vehicle is being used as an aircraft rather than a motor vehicle, the turbocharged engine provides approximately 300 horsepower to the rear-mounted, direct-drive, variable pitch propeller.
The AeroMobil switches from a car to a plane in about three minutes.
-
- Image Credit: Gary S. Vasilash
Lots of composite materials for light weight and strength
The primary structures are made with composites, which is readily explained by the fact that members of the engineering team have backgrounds at places like McLaren, where that’s the way of life. -
- Image Credit: Gary S. Vasilash
Retractable landing gear and suspension system
And for the suspension—or make that landing gear—there is a great deal of aluminum being deployed. What’s interesting about the front suspension setup is that not only must it be able to accommodate on-road driving conditions, but it must also allow the wheels to retract up into the fuselage structure. -
- Image Credit: VLADIMIR SIMICEK via Getty Images
Any prospective driver must also be a pilot
Not only would one need a driver’s license to drive the AeroMobil on public roads, a pilot’s license is required for flying it. This is a real airplane, not one of those autonomous crafts that are expected to be available a never-arriving few years out.
Speaking of a few years, the first delivery is said to be in 2020 with a production run on the order of 500 units. Price? On the order of 1.2 million euros.
