Is the age of “The Jetsons” finally ready to take off?
The Federal Aviation Administration has granted approval for a flying car.
Alef Aeronautics announced last week that the FAA has granted “legal permission” to test run the vehicle on the road and in the sky.
The certification was granted to the Armada Model Zero, the precursor to the Model A, Flying Magazine reported.
The designation is one of the last roadblocks for the Model A before it can be sold, USA Today reported.
The Model A is a fully electric vehicle that can be driven on regular roads and has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, according to the company. It can fit in a regular parking space and inside a regular garage.
It can fly up to 110 miles on a charge and a driving range of about 200 miles, CNBC reported in December.
Alef now holds a Special Airworthiness Certification from the FAA. The designation sets the locations and purposes of where and when a flying car can take to the sky.
It was issued on June 12, Fox Business reported.
“This certificate allows the aircraft to be used for limited purposes, including exhibition, research and development. This is not the first aircraft of its kind for which the FAA has issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate,” an FAA spokesperson told Fox Business.
The FAA approved Terrafugia’s Transition and Samson Sky’s Switchblade flying cars, but Alef’s vehicle is the first 100% electric one, according to Flying Magazine.
But don’t start writing out the $300,000 check just yet to get behind the wheel or in the cockpit.
The Model A has to still be certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, USA Today reported.
Despite still needing to get through the additional NHTSA regulations, the Model A is for sale by preorder. To get on the list you have to pay either $150 to be part of the general queue or $1,500 to be in the priority queue, both of which, according to the preorder website, are fully refundable.
In a report by CNBC last year, the startup said it hopes to have the first cars fly off the line by 2025.
