Alef Mannequin A: Meet The First Street-Authorized Flying Automobile

Alef Aeronautics, a San Mateo-based startup based in 2015, has begun producing what it describes as the world’s first road-legal flying automobile. Whereas autonomous floor autos proceed to face reliability challenges, Alef factors out that managed aerial mobility is each possible and sensible; the corporate’s authentic objective of constructing a flying automobile in six months proved unrealistic, however regular improvement resulted in a full-size prototype by 2019 and the beginning of manufacturing in early December 2025.

Alef’s flagship car, the all-electric Mannequin A, can be utilized as each an ordinary street car and a vertical takeoff and touchdown (VTOL) plane. It could actually drive on public roads and match into normal parking areas, in addition to take off vertically like a helicopter. Alef claims that this makes it the primary road-legal passenger car with VTOL functionality, setting it other than earlier ideas just like the Samson Switchblade, which requires a runway.

The Mannequin A has a high pace of 25 mph on the bottom, with larger speeds supposed for air journey. The car has eight propellers built-in right into a mesh construction that surrounds the cabin. Throughout flight, the complete car rotates, reworking its sides into wing-like surfaces, and the motive force’s seat transforms right into a cockpit-style configuration.

The Mannequin A is manufactured in a prolonged course of that mixes robotic programs and guide meeting. Earlier than completion, every car goes by way of particular person part testing in addition to a number of check flights. Alef reviews receiving roughly 3,500 pre-orders on the present listed value of $299,000. If mass manufacturing is profitable, the corporate claims that prices will finally fall to compact-car ranges.

Preliminary deliveries will likely be restricted to early backers, who will function beta testers to assist enhance manufacturing and deployment. Pre-orders can be found on Alef’s website, with refundable deposits. A serious unresolved problem is regulation, as there’s at present no clear authorized framework governing autos that may perform as each automobiles and plane, elevating considerations about licensing, classification, and operational guidelines.

Filed in Transportation. Learn extra about Electric Cars and Flying Cars.