Terrafugia is a technology company based in Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 2006, its founding team is composed of 5 graduates from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company’s core business is the development of flying cars.
On August 25th, Dagny Dukach, director of marketing and communications at Terrafugia, appeared at the Shanghai International Inter-vehicle Networking and Smart Transport Exhibition. At the conference, she introduced us to products developed by Terrafugia and received a lot of attention on the spot.
Since its establishment, Terrafugia has developed two products: one for Transition and the other for TF-X.
Transition is the first product of Terrafugia and its concept proof model completed its first flight at the Plattsburgh Airport in the United States in 2009. In 2011, Transition was granted a road permit in the United States and was "the first practical flying car." In June of this year, the United States FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) issued a certification green light to the Transition to prove that it is a Light Sport Aircraft.
Pictured by Transition
Transition can fly in the air at a speed of 200km/h. The maximum flight distance is about 800km. The maximum speed on land can reach 128km/h. To drive this flying car, you need not only a driver's license, but also a sports aircraft license (available within 20 hours of training).
Pictured by Transition
The innovation of Transition is that the wing can be folded and can be automatically deployed by pressing a button: from the car shape to the aircraft shape within 30 seconds. However, take-off requires a runway taxi.
Transition's third-generation models will begin delivery after the 2016 to 2017 tests are completed. According to news from foreign media, the Transition received more than 100 orders two years ago. At the time, the price was US$ 279,000 (close to the price of three Tesla).
The picture shows TF-X
TF-X is the second flying car that the Terrafugia team is developing. This project started in 2013 and is still in the concept and design stage.
The TF-X is a plug-in hybrid transmission system with four seats that allows vertical take-off and landing without the need for run-up. The TF-X has a semi-autonomous driving function with a maximum flying distance of 500 miles (800 km) and a maximum flying speed of 200 km/h in the sky. It can be used on normal roads or in a standard car garage. in.
The picture shows TF-X
Currently Terrafugia is working with ASTM (American Materials and Testing Association) to develop and certify standards for TF-X. According to Terrafugia's plan, TF-X will enter mass production from 2023 to 2027. For the price of TF-X, Terrafugia has not yet announced the official, Dukach said that TF-X is still in the early stages, there are too many uncertainties on the product in the future, but also unable to announce an accurate price.
Although Terrafugia has been established for 10 years, Dukach told us that Terrafugia is still a small company with a team size of 25 and no extensive experience in production and marketing. Dukach revealed to us that she is the only marketing staff in Terrafugia. She also stated that Terrafugia is currently looking for strategic partners and investment partners, hoping to bring this company to the next stage through a cooperative relationship, and quickly lead to product landing and mass production.
The biggest challenge for this project currently comes from technical integration and regulatory barriers. Dukach believes Terrafugia's engineering team and certification experts will overcome these obstacles and develop safe, legal, and practical flying cars.
According to public information, more than a dozen companies around the world are currently developing prototypes for flying cars, including both start-up companies and aerospace giants. In June of this year, Google co-founder Larry Page invested personally in the "flying car" company Zee.Aero and Kitty Hawk, with an investment of more than $100 million, which has caused flying cars to attract the attention of the industry.
From the outside world, "flying cars" are simple combinations of "aircraft" and "cars." But in fact, it is very difficult to design vehicles with cross-border capabilities.
"Because of the different laws of motion, the design principles of airplanes and automobiles are also necessarily different, and they cannot be exhaustive. The specific problems of these flying vehicles are such as small number of people, large size, difficulty in vertical landing, difficulty in driving and operating, and high prices. Although most of them have proposed solutions, most of them are theoretical and their actual results are not satisfactory,†said one person from Beijing Aerospace University.
This is why Terrafugia was established more than 10 years ago. The Transition started in 2005 will not be delivered until this and next year. The TF-X project started in 2013 will not be ready for mass production until 2023.
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