FLY VS FLY

FLYING CARS ARE PROJECTED TO BE A $1 TRILLION MARKET BY 2040. THE STORY OF TWO COMPANIES, ONE LAWSUIT, AND THE DREAM TO RULE THE AIR.

- COURTNEY RUBIN

DON'T CALL IT A FLYING CAR. THE VEHICLE, WHICH LOOKS LIKE A SPACE-AGE TADPOLE THAT'S SPROUTED SPIKE-TIPPED WINGS, CAN TAKE OFF AND LAND VERTICALLY, MEANING THAT IT DOESN'T REQUIRE A RUNWAY, AND ONCE IT'S ALOFT, IT FLIES LIKE A SMALL AIRPLANE. MAKE THE MISTAKE OF REFERRING TO ONE OF THESE NOT-HELICOPTER-NOT-AIRPLANES AS A "FLYING CAR" TO ANYONE IN THE BURGEONING MARKET, AND INVARIABLY THEY'LL SQUAWK: IT SOUNDS TOO MUCH LIKE SCIENCE FICTION, LIKE SOMETHING THAT IS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN. (THEY ALSO HATE THE JETSONS THEME SONG AND CAN RECALL WITH SURPRISING ACCURACY EVERY NEWS PROGRAM THAT HAS USED IT.)

AS YOU BOARD, ARROWS guide you across a kind of bridge that weighs you. Infrared sensors detect if your luggage is hard- or soft-backed, and more important, if you have to wait for the next flight because it’s overweight. Every gram matters. The batteries powering this thing to 2,000 feet are electric. You will not be getting an extra ice cube in your drink.

This on-ramp procedure is still on the drawing board—in this case, the walls of Archer Aviation’s Mountain View, California, design studio, where scenes are annotated with dozens of handwritten Post-its. So when I enter the vehicle’s four-passenger cabin, I just hop in right behind the pilot’s seat. I set my phone down on the induction charger and lean back in my ergonomic seat, which feels surprisingly like a recliner for something that isn’t padded and doesn’t actually recline.