The wait is over. Flying cars that can take you from home to work are here today!  The M400 Skycar drives on the road like a hybrid electric vehicle, but it can also lift off vertically and fly at a maximum speed of 600kph. Once this snazzy piece of machinery gets official certification, it should be on the market in three years.

To create a flying car that doesn’t need a runway (something hard to find in most suburbs and city centre) it needs vertical take off and landing (VTOL) capabilities. This means that the car has to be small and light weight, but have a lot of power. Quite an ask! Today the only personal use aircraft with VTOL capability is the helicopter, but it’s notoriously difficult to fly and unsuitable for most city-goers – unlike the new generation Skycar. So, how does it do it?

M400 Skycar uses the Wankel rotary engine to get the power it needs for VTOL, while keeping the size of the engine and its weight appropriate for flight. The engine has a low rotating inertia, which allows its fans to quickly speed up and slow down, something very difficult to accomplish in a normal engine.  The car is pretty special because the rotary engines are attached to the fans directly. This makes the Skycar not only safer than the standard helicopter (which uses middle pieces, prone to failure, to connect the fan and engine) but gives the machine power to fly!

 The flying car has eight fans, each attached to a rotary engine. This gives the machines more than enough power for take off and superstar flying power. According to Dr. Paul Moller, developer of the Skycar, “You can continue to drive safely in the air even once you lose a fan.”

Without wings, the Skycar can easily hover at 1.5 km above ground. But once the wings are in operation the Skycar can reach heights of 7.6 km above the ground. Unfortunately, those hanging out for the Skycar will need a pilot’s license to fly the vehicle, but if you can’t be bothered getting one then check out the M200 Neuera, which will be available in the United States next year.

 M200 Neuera is a saucer-shaped aircraft (“It’s a Jetson’s like device,” says Moller), that rises 10 feet above the air, and lets you zip along at 100-150km/hr. The future is well and truly now!