OAN’s James Myers
2:47 PM – Monday, March 4, 2024
The $300,000 SpaceX-backed flying car maker said it has a backlog of 2,850 pre-orders.
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San Mateo, California-based Aleph Aeronautics announced that pre-orders for the Model A have exceeded $850 million.
Customers can access Model A pre-orders online and must pay a minimum deposit of $150 to purchase the vehicle. Additionally, customers can cancel their deposit at any time.
The flying car, an 850-pound two-seater that was first unveiled at last year’s Detroit Auto Show, is an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle that can fly up to 110 miles per hour in the air and have a range of up to 35 miles. per hour on land.
“As of today, we have just over 2,850 pre-orders, excluding down payments, making it the best-selling aircraft in history, surpassing Boeing, Airbus, Joby Aviation and most eVTOLs. [electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles] ,” said Jim Dukhovny, CEO of Alef. CNBC.
Additionally, in 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration granted the Model A special airworthiness certification, allowing the company to fly it in limited locations.
Meanwhile, it still needs approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be legal on the roads.
Aleph is also working on a four-seat sedan called the Model Z, which will cost $35,000 and be released by 2035.
Currently, there are no legal provisions governing the routes and trajectories of flying cars within cities.
Aleph CEO Jim Dukhovny said. CNBC He claimed to look forward to approval of what he called “the first flying car in history.”
“If everything goes well, we plan to start the first production by the end of 2025,” Dukhovny said.
As the “flying car” lifts off the ground, its cockpit rotates and its carbon fiber body turns sideways, propelling it forward propelled by an array of propellers.
Aleph estimates the range to be 200 miles and the flight range to be 160 miles.
Dukhovny also said that despite the high number of pre-orders from customers, the company won’t be able to meet demand right away.
“It’s crazy how we’re going to produce 2,850 vehicles,” Aleph’s CEO said. “It’s going to start slowly. And people think a million of them will fly over San Francisco or Barcelona, but that’s not going to happen. It’s going to be very slow — one , and further, and further, he added.
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