The Flying Sports Car Finally Gets Some Muscle (Maybe)

I've been covering electric vehicles for longer than most people have been paying attention to them – and I'm still waiting for them to get really interesting. Oh sure, some are fast and fancy, and all of them promise to save the world… or something like that. But let's be honest, sometimes watching an EV crawl past snails in traffic just isn't thrilling.

Now we've got this Israeli company called AIR promising a private little "flying sports car". Cute design, promises to fold its wings neatly like a Transformer… if there was an Optimus Prime for rich geeks, this would be it. On paper, this thing hits 155 mph (250 km/h), but it also only does about 100 miles (160 km) on a charge. My old gasoline-powered Miata did better than that.

The AIR ONE isn't just some tech-bro fever dream – this thing is designed for the everyday person (well, the everyday person with a pilot's license and a spare runway on their property). Turns out, AIR's whole focus is on accessibility. They want this flying contraption to be as easy to store as a car – those folding wings mean it'll fit snugly in your garage. Plus, they're aiming for full FAA certification, so it won't just be a rich man's toy. Of course, whether any of us can actually afford this "accessible" air taxi after all that certification red tape, well,  that's a question for my accountant... and my accountant's therapist.

But - wait for it - there's hope! AIR has partnered up with NIDEC, a Japanese electric motor giant. Maybe they'll finally soup this flying scooter up with some real muscle. Who knows? Maybe this is how those Japanese salarymen will finally get to live out their Gundam fantasies.

NIDEC, those Japanese motor masters, may sound like they belong in a sci-fi movie, but they're the real deal. This isn't some start-up tinkering in a garage – these guys are THE heavyweights in the electric motor world. They probably power everything from your refrigerator to that weird robot vacuum that terrorizes your cat. Now they're taking on flying cars, which frankly,  sounds way cooler than keeping my leftovers chilled.  Let's just hope they're better at building flying car motors than they are at coming up with catchy company names. NIDEC? Seriously? Sounds like a medication for insomnia.

AIR's certainly trying to cover all their bases. They're getting government funding and even have the US military interested. They've even gotten in tight with some sort of fancy yacht club. I'm picturing James Bond types stepping off a mega-yacht, pressing a button on a gold-plated key fob, and their private jet-car zooms in to whisk them away.

Okay, okay, they've got me slightly curious. Grudgingly, I'll admit there's something appealing about a good tech story, even if it does involve flying cars.  Let's break down the specs. Size-wise, think less private jet, more… sardine can with wings. Power? Eight motors? Sounds cool, and at least there's a backup for when things inevitably go sideways. The battery promises a recharge shorter than my attention span - revolutionary! And the price tag… well, let's just say if you need to ask, you probably can't afford it. Oh, and it's fast. Like, blink-and-you'll-miss-the-whole-experience fast.

All joking aside, this 'Air One' is a sign of things to come. Sure, I'll always have a soft spot for the smell of gasoline and the roar of a real engine, but even I have to admit – the future of transportation is about to take off... literally.