Hyundai fling car concept – Breaking Boundaries with A modular approach to Ground and Aerial Vehicles independent of each other
Probably a century ago, people would have thought the future holds flying cars. Come future, and technology has reinvented itself and embedded itself into almost all societies. In terms of flying cars, we have been ever aware and keen. But we’re not there yet. And it begs the question, should we have flying cars, in the first place?
And now Hyundai is throwing its weight into the mix of flying car concepts. This could have a lot of potential theoretically. The South Korean brand’s approach to flying cars seems to be of modular type. In this sense, ground vehicle and aerial vehicle are independent and work in harmony to achieve a flying car.
Hyundai Flying Car Patent – Wings of Innovation
For the first time, we are seeing a mainstream car manufacturer present a modular approach with towards flying cars. Hyundai is making both aerial and ground vehicles separate with independent energy sources. Aerial vehicle looks like a giant drone that has enough lifting force to lift the ground vehicle.
Basic idea is that a car shouldn’t have to carry the additional weight of flying gear all the time and vice versa. Goal is to achieve flexibility too. Ground vehicle can summon aerial vehicle whenever user deems it worthy and vice versa. Transportation of goods and personal transportation are primary focus areas.
Hyundai’s patent filings don’t reveal how this seamless integration will take place. This is still in early prototype phase. Other than just transportation, this drone could prove beneficial in scanning the road ahead for the ground vehicle to traverse its path. Also, Hyundai is stressing on environmentally-friendly energy to run this vehicle.
Should We Aim for the Skies?
Flying cars is like a forbidden fruit. We can reach it, but we don’t know whether we should. Many have attempted this genre and there are many working prototypes designed for aerial and ground transportation. Unless someone cracked physics, practical flying cars are a myth.
A real and practical flying car could take longer than our lifetime in the making. Especially one that runs on clean alternative fuels. In a plane, wings store the fuel, if the wings have to fold, it can hardly hold enough fuel.
A runway is needed to take off or land every time. If it is a lift-off type, it needs both torque and antitorque. If it is of an electric type, batteries are the drag. Also, if it is hydrogen-based, fuel can only be stored in cylinders. Hyundai’s approach towards this genre can be recreated today by owning a car and a helicopter.
There are working prototypes that demonstrated a flying car as early as 1940s. If it was a solution worth investing in, we would have owned flying cars already by now. Even the most recent working prototypes are completely impractical. Some even look drab. As of now, we already have real flying cars. They’re called airplanes and helicopters.
