Flying saucers have always been associated with aliens and conspiracy theories, but they might become more common in our skies if this out-of-this-world electric vehicle truly takes off.
There are two or three trends in the automotive industry that are trying to bring the future to the present. Electric vehicles, while not exactly new, still haven’t become the norm. Self-driving cars continue to tickle the imagination in some while striking fear in others. Some visionaries, however, want to take personal transport to the skies, and one startup is mashing ideas together in what may be the oddest looking flying “car” yet.
Designer: Zeva
The Zeva Zero definitely looks more like a flying saucer than a flying car, even if the goals and some of the technologies are similar to other attempts at making personal transport vehicles that traverse the skies to avoid earth-bound traffic. For one, it utilizes vertical take-off and landing, a.k.a. VTOL, more similar to a helicopter than an airplane.
On the one hand, this has the benefit of saving parking space, so to speak, because the flying saucer launches and lands in an upright position, contrary to what you’d expect from a flying disc. This even has the advantage of allowing the Zeva Zero to “dock” vertical against walls of buildings with a system that the startup calls the SkyDock. That said, the Zero actually goes horizontal when it comes time to actually move from point A to point B, taking advantage of the aerodynamics of a saucer being propelled by rotors.
Beyond the unique design, however, Zeva also has the big goal of making personal air travel more eco-friendly but turning the Zero from a VTOL to eVTOL by using eight zero-emission electric motors to drive its propellers. That said, a single flying saucer has the capacity for only one passenger, who is also the aircraft’s pilot, so the costs on the environment could still add up in the long run, especially in manufacturing these vehicles.
Nityia Photography