The next DeLorean really won’t need roads

The rather short-lived DeLorean car brand was immortalized in the Back to the Future movies, but the name may return, and this time the machine, which only exists as an experimental model, will truly be a vehicle that won’t need roads.

For a long time, flying cars and taxis in the air were just spectacular sci-fi elements (see also: The Fifth Element), but nowadays it doesn’t seem at all fantastic that sooner or later familiar machines from the classic Jetson family cartoon will fill the sky. AeroMobil, which is interested in flying cars, already has a pre-order type, while the first self-flying taxis will begin testing in Dubai this year.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as John DeLorean’s nephew, Paul DeLorean, the founder of the ambitious but very failing DeLorean car brand, launched a company in 2012 called DeLorean Aerospace that aims to provide people with a flying car as well.

The project, which started seven years ago, is currently in the process of having a model called the DR-7 on the design table, with front and rear wings and two swivel propellers. Looking at its future dimensions, we are talking about a 6 meter long, 5.6 meter wide machine, the wings of which can be folded, so according to the plans the final version can fit smoothly in a larger garage.

In addition, the aircraft is designed to be electrically propelled and is intended to be either completely self-driving, so that it can be used even by those who do not have any license to fly. Although DeLorean Aerospace is still in the research and development phase, there are already two smaller versions of the DR-7.

The first is a barely 30-centimeter model with which the physics have been tested, while the second is already a 1: 3-functional version, and the company is currently working to produce a fully electric prototype capable of carrying two passengers within a year, up to 190 kilometers away.

Of course, the company has not yet stated when all this will become a tangible reality for customers, and how much will have to be cheered for the final version, but the company does not (only) target millionaires. And if the “market” for flying cars develops at this rate, within 15 years, general-purpose vehicles that will still not be able to travel in time, but will really not need roads, can really become a reality.