Oh! Gizmo

By Evan Ackerman

Terrafugia Transition is a flying car. Or maybe it’s a driving plane. Whatever you want to call it, it’s probably not what you were picturing as the vehicle of the future… But while it’s not nearly as slick as the Moller Skycar, the Transition has the important distinction of not being total vaporware, and as proof, it had it’s maiden flight on March 5th:

More, after the jump.

The reason that the Terrafugia Transition actually works, and the Moller Skycar doesn’t, is that the Transition is pretty much a light airplane with four wheels and folding wings that happens to also be street legal. Is it going to be your daily commuter? Probably not. But you won’t have to pay for a hangar or tie-down at the airport, and if you do fly somewhere, you’ll have unprecedented flexibility when you get there.

The Terrafugia Transition turns from a plane into a car, and back again, in about 60 seconds. It has a top speed (in the air) of about 115 mph, a range of 450 miles (it runs on regular gas), and requires a light sport license to fly. It’s slated to go on sale by the end of this year for $194,000, which may or may not happen, but it’s always good to see that tangible progress is being made.

[ Terrafugia ] VIA [ Jalopnik ]