The DeLorean Motor Company has found a new and fascinating way to put itself in the news. DeLorean has decided to enter into the so-called “world’s first flying car racing series,” which sounds mind-blowing. But before you get too excited, the “flying cars” are just vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, and the new DeLorean isn’t even a DeLorean. The more I think about the profoundly bad marketing of all of this, the more I just want to bang my head on a wall.
I like to consider myself an advocate for all things aviation. If you have a dream of taking flight, I want you to be able to do it. Piloting dreams shouldn’t be limited to only wealthy people. That’s why I’m generally a fan of new ways to get people flying for less money. I also like ways that make piloting more accessible. The electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL, is just that, by taking the general concept of a helicopter and packaging it into an easy-to-fly EV that looks like a scaled-up drone.
But some eVTOLs carry a stench of, frankly, the most unfortunate marketing I have ever seen in the vehicle world. Some of the startup companies slinging eVTOLs can’t just be content with their vehicles being called aircraft. No, they must be called flying cars, even though there is nothing about them that’s even remotely similar to how most people think of a flying car.
DeLorean and Airspeeder want you to believe that the future of flying cars is here. They even have fine members of the media eating up the “flying car” marketing. But I’m not buying it. So, I will take a brief departure from my normally bubbly attitude to be a bit of a downer to show you why this marketing is so exhausting.
Today’s DMC
The DeLorean Motor Company of today is not the one made iconic by Doc Brown’s flying DMC-12 from the “Back to the Future” trilogy. That company died in 1982 after it defaulted on loan payments and its namesake, John DeLorean, became embroiled in a drug trafficking scandal. The new DMC, which bought the assets from the old one (via the parent company of Big Lots), was founded in Texas in 1995 by British mechanic Stephen Wynne.
The reborn DMC started as a shop to keep DMC-12s alive, but later expanded into merch before attempting to build electric DMC-12s. It has since teased the Alpha5 EV (above) and went back to the idea of repowering existing DMC-12s with electric motors. DMC is also selling a crypto coin currently worth $0.0002696. But it has also decided to slap its name on something that isn’t a DeLorean at all: An Airspeeder “flying racing car.”
The ‘First Flying Car Racing Series’
Airspeeder is a racing series that utilizes eVTOL aircraft. It was founded in 2018 by Matt Pearson, and he states that the goal of his company is:
We have been promised flying cars for generations.
From the dawn of the age of the motor car, it has been racing that pushes innovation.We have Formula 1 to thank for the key performance and safety innovations we take for granted today.
Airspeeder is that catalyst of innovation for a new mobility age. Our Electric Flying Car mission is to build the ultimate performance flying car will define a new mobility revolution.
Pearson says that his dream is to make flying cars accessible to everyone, and Airspeeder racing is the proof of concept for it. The ultimate goal is to have a bunch of these “flying cars” zipping around cities. Notably, Pearson is a serial entrepreneur and, in 2016, founded Alauda Aeronautics, which builds the “flying cars” that compete in Airspeeder races.
Alauda’s first eVTOL was the Alauda Mk1 Airspeeder, which was teased in 2017 before going into testing in 2018. The Airspeeder Mk2 three-fourths-scale prototype came after. Then in 2019, Alauda pulled the covers off the Airspeeder Mk3, a more realized eight-rotor version of the original Airspeeder concept.
This eVTOL is an incredible piece of engineering. From Airspeeder:
The Speeder will be operated remotely by a pilot on the ground. The groundbreaking safety enhancements include LiDAR and Radar collision avoidance systems that create a ‘virtual forcefield’ around the craft. Additionally, the Mk3 features a carbon fibre frame and fuselage chosen for its strength, stiffness and lightweight properties, which ensures manoeuvrability, performance and efficiency.
The powertrain represents a significant upgrade on the Mk2 proof of concept vehicle, with power increased by 95% with only a 50% increase in weight. A 96 kW electric powertrain already sees the Mk3 operating with a thrust to weight ratio above two, on a craft that weighs just 100KG unmanned. The Mk3 speeders will fly at speeds in excess of 120 km\h.
The Mk3 speeders are laid-out in an ‘octocopter X formation’, providing significant advantages to pilots. When racing the pilot will be able to make the same sharp hairpin style turns as a Formula 1 car but with the added third dimension of being able to move vertically. To facilitate rapid pit stops, Alauda’s engineers have developed an innovative ‘slide and lock’ system for the rapid removal and replacement of batteries when on the ground, this technology debuts on the Mk3.
Airspeeder eVTOLs ran their first circuit race in 2022, and trial races have continued ever since. Those races were called the EXA Series, and the Airspeeder Mk3s in them were remotely piloted. The Airspeeder International Series, which starts this month, is supposed to be the brand’s first proper racing series, and involves teams from Australia, Italy, and New Zealand.
The racing and technology part of Airspeeder is amazing. It’s a whole new kind of motorsport, and one that looks rather exciting! I also love how these eVTOLs look.
Airspeeder says that DeLorean is entering the “world’s first crewed electric flying car series,” first flying the Airspeeder Mk3C before developing its own aircraft. Weirdly, Airspeeder does not give any specs for the Mk3C or say if it’s still uncrewed like the Mk3. Airspeeder is working on the Mk4, which looks like an F1 car, has a top speed of 225 mph, and is being marketed as “the first crewed version of its flying racing car.” You would think a racing series would be clearer on how its competitors actually use the vehicles. Here’s what DeLorean says about its entry into the sport:
“DeLorean has always stood for the courage to imagine transportation differently,” said Cameron Wynne, Chief Brand Officer, DeLorean Motor Company. “People have pictured a DeLorean in the sky for forty years. We decided it was time to stop picturing it.”
Pearson says:
“DeLorean is the original flying car brand. Long before anyone had built one, the whole world already knew what a flying DeLorean looked like. Every great racing series is defined by the constructors who choose to compete in it. To have an American icon line up on our grid in our first international season tells you where this sport is going.”
What Makes These Flying Cars?
But my problem with all of this is calling these machines “flying cars.” The Airspeeder Mk3 doesn’t even carry a person. What makes that a car? But we’ll ignore that since the goal is to have a real pilot.
For most people, a car is a four-wheeled vehicle designed to transport people from one place to another. There are different categories of cars like vans, SUVs, 4x4s, trucks, racecars, and sports cars. When most people think of a flying car, they picture a vehicle that transitions from a ground vehicle to a flying vehicle. It’s a car, just as we all know, but it also flies.
There have been lots of flying cars throughout history, like the Convair Model 118, the Fulton Airphibian FA-3-101, and the Aerocar, which were all functional, roadable aircraft from the 1940s that weren’t commercially viable.
There was also the AVE Mizar in the 1970s. In the 21st century, we’ve seen projects like the Terrafugia Transition, the Samson Switchblade, and the Klein Vision AirCar. Notably, all of these vehicles are aircraft that can also drive on the road. DeLorean is simply not “the original flying car brand” as claimed.
An eVTOL is, at its core, similar in function to a helicopter. It cannot drive on the ground, and it doesn’t even have wheels. It flies to a location, touches down vertically, and that’s it. Weirdly, eVTOL manufacturers love comparing their wares to cars. The Jetson One has been marketed as a flying car for years, even though its ultralight category legally excludes it from being used like a car. The makers of eVTOLs that can carry a few people are calling them “flying taxis.” So, to be fair to Airspeeder here, it’s not the only one playing loose with definitions, but it is pushing the idea of eVTOLs being “flying cars” harder than most.
The way I see it, if vehicles that cannot travel on the ground can be called cars, then we’ve had flying cars for longer than a century. Only, they’re called helicopters. Otherwise, what makes an eVTOL a flying car but a helicopter not?
Again, the technology here is awesome; I love the pilots in this racing series, and I wish both DeLorean and Airspeeder the best of luck. But the whole flying car marketing and saying that eVTOLs are the “future of urban mobility” is just so exhausting that I don’t even care to watch the racing series. I don’t know, call me a Luddite, call me out of touch, but I’m just not buying it.
Top photo: DeLorean Motor Company
