Minnesota sets the stage for new era of flying cars
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Minnesota has become the second U.S. state where flying car regulations have gone into effect, following the lead of New Hampshire which passed similar legislation back in 2020. The new law will give private citizens the right to own “roadable aircraft,” granting drivers the ability to become pilots of the same vehicle. No more traffic in everyday transportation might come with a big price tag for now, but it’s still several decades before a regular family navigates life in the year 2062.
Orbit City: The so-called “Jetsons Law” allows airplane-to-car hybrids to register as motor vehicles, but instead of a traditional license plate, they will be permitted to use their tail number. Flying cars will also have to “take off and land from a suitable airfield,” meaning no descents onto roadways or public highways (barring an emergency). While taking to the sky, the dual-purpose vehicles will have to abide by all FAA rules, which will become more important as more states adopt similar legislation.
“I think we’re close to regulation at the federal level,” said Jim Dukhovny, CEO of flying car company Alef Aeronautics. “Healthy market competition is good for the industry. Governments are starting to realize the economic and environmental advantages of flying cars.” Doron Merdinger, CEO of a similar startup called Doroni Aerospace, also feels that it is “smart to get ahead of the curve and start planning how to integrate these vehicles into our daily lives.”
The big leagues: Traditional planemakers, like Airbus (OTCPK:EADSY) and Boeing (BA), as well as commercial carriers like American Airlines (AAL), Delta (DAL) and United (UAL), are pouring millions into flying taxis, eVTOL prototypes and transportation partnerships. Other air mobility firms with skin in the game include Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR), Eve Air Mobility (NYSE:EVEX), Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY), Lilium (NASDAQ:LILM) and Vertical Aerospace (NYSE:EVTL). Interestingly, most carmakers are sitting this one out, instead focusing most of their R&D on self-driving and autonomous features, as well as electric and hybrid technology.