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Alef Aeronautics, a SpaceX-backed startup, said it has received 2,850 pre-orders for its futuristic electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the Alef Model A.
Alef Aeronautics is based in San Mateo, California, reports CNBC. A $150 deposit is required to make a reservation. Clients can withdraw their deposit at any time if they wish.
Alef plans to charge customers $300,000 for the Model A when it becomes commercially available—with those 2,850, the total value of orders today is more than $850 million.
To date, we have more than 2,850 pre-orders including deposits, making it the best-selling aircraft in history, more than Boeing, Airbus, Joby Aviation and most eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles) combined.
— Alef CEO Jim Duchovny.
Alef is also working on a four-seat Model Z sedan, slated for release by 2035 at a price of $35,000. Alef is backed by investors like early investor Tesla and Elon Musk's space company SpaceX.
To move on the road, the car uses four small motors in each of the wheels, and should drive like a conventional electric car. It has eight propellers on the front and back that can spin independently at different speeds, allowing it to fly in any direction.
In the air, the Alef Model A should reach a cruising speed of 176 km/h, while on the road it is limited to 40-55 km/h.
After takeoff, the Alef Model A can turn on its side, with the cockpit rotating so that the driver can continue to sit forward-facing, and the car practically becomes a biplane, with the long sides serving as the upper and lower “wings.”
The Alef Model A weighs 385kg and qualifies as an ultra-light vehicle, meaning it falls under the same legal classification as small electric vehicles such as golf carts. Dukhovny says this should make it easier for the car to pass key regulatory approvals to get the green light to fly in 2025:
If everything goes right, we plan, and if we have enough funding, if the law at least is not worse, it will exist in the form in which it is, we plan to start production of the first car before the end of 2025.
Last year, the US Federal Aviation Administration granted the Alef a special airworthiness certificate allowing the aircraft to be used for limited purposes, including exhibitions, research and development of a flying car. Alef still needs to receive further approvals to pave the way for consumer flights.
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