Drones were once part of the battlefield, but ever since they were commercialized, they have infiltrated into every imaginable field, delivery drones, camera drones, mobile tower drones, pollination drones, and what not. What is more exciting are the passenger drones and flying cars, and people are expecting our world to turn into The Jetsons in the next couple of decades. Even though Elon Musk thinks that flying cars are a bad idea, the rest of the world does not agree, and we will soon see EHang passenger drones in Dubai, and a flying car lighting the torch at the Tokyo Olympics. The 2017 Paris Air Show is bringing us many more of the cutting edge commercial aerospace technologies and the Workhorse SureFly, a two-seater flying car is among the most anticipated ones.
The Workhorse SureFly is an electric quadcopter, with two contra-rotating propellers in both corners. A petrol engine is there to extend the range to 70 miles, reaching top speeds of 70 miles an hour. The efficiently fueled engine of SureFly could make it a two seater sports car up in the air, that too at an affordable price.
Unlike the most flying cars from early stage startups that we see these days, this one comes from a company with expertise in building range-extended trucks. SureFly uses the same BMW 600cc twin-cylinder generator engine as Workhorse’s pickup, and step vans do. The company’s expertise in the major design aspects of the car is an add-on. The engine used in SureFly is being used in many BMW products; BMW super scooter C600 and in the i3 car as a range extender.
The company is already making Workhorse HorseFly UAV Delivery systems, so the complex part of dealing with multi-copter flight control systems has been taken care of. The HorseFly delivery drones have already been used by the United Parcel Service for routine delivery operations, capable of 30-minute flight while carrying 10-pound packages.
There are little details about SureFly, but the 2017 Paris Air Show begins on June 19th, and we look forward to seeing the affordable personal car up close.
