Terrafugia unleashes all-new TF-X flying-car design

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s a Terrafugia flying car! The flying car concept from Terrafugia has certainly come a long way from its first foray into this new paradigm of mobility, with its Terrafugia Transition.

It now has the TF-X flying machine in the works, although still a few years away from hitting the market, the company is showing an animated 3D model of it to give an insight to how everything comes together.

Honestly, the overall design still leaves to be a lot to be desired, but make no mistake, the big idea is pretty extraordinary. It is essentially a four-seat, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) hybrid electric aircraft that makes flying easier and safer than ever before.

With computer-controlled flight controls, it has twin electric motor pods that can provide at least one megawatt of power (1,341 hp), and these pods team up with a 300 hp petrol engine to ultimately assure a 200 mph (322 km/h) crusing speed at altitude.

Speaking to CNET, a spokesperson from Terrafugia said the new design for the TF-X will be tested as a one-tenth scale model at the MIT Wright Brothers wind tunnel – the same tunnel that was used to test models of Terrafugia’s Transition.

The company has had a bit of a troubled history thus far. As reported by Engadget, there have been countless delays of Terrafugia’s products since its inception back in 2006. The Transition was initially slated for delivery by 2015 or 2016 at $279,000 (RM1,063,213), but now, the price could creep up to $400,000 (RM1,524,320).

Apparently though, the second-generation Transition has already undergone 100 hours of flight time, and the engineers are concentrating on the drivetrain. Terrafugia is opting for a belt-driven CVT, which is connected to a four-stroke four-cylinder, 100 hp, 65 kg petrol engine. Apparently, that should give it enough power and efficiency for a 725 km flying range.

Anyway, once Terrafugia gets the Transtion out of the way, we can then look forward to the day that the TF-X plug-in hybrid flying car really takes off. Do check out the video above for a cool look at this ground-breaking concept.

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