IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2016 - 57

safeguards are put in place, flying cars could be the answer to
our ever-worsening traffic jams and help to improve air quality. Flying cars that can travel at hundreds of miles per hour
would reduce traffic jams and allow us to live hundreds of
miles farther from work. They would also improve the environment by reducing the need to build airports and highways.
Initially, they could be adopted by police, military, and emergency personnel before being deployed on a larger scale.
A practical flying car would have to be capable of safely
taking off, flying, and landing in any heavily populated urban
environment. However, to date, no VTOL vehicle has ever
demonstrated such capabilities. To produce such an aircraft
would require a propulsion system that is quiet and has
nonexposed rotors so it could be flown safely in urban environments. Additionally, they would require very efficient,
lightweight, and powerful engines. Many types of aircraft
technologies and form factors have been suggested to be
adapted for flying cars. The ducted-fan aircraft tends to easily lose stability and have difficulty traveling long distances,
while tilt-rotors are generally noisy. VTOL and short takeoff
and landing features are very important for generating an
interest in flying cars. VTOL optimization is best achieved
with lightweight vehicles with low wing loading. VTOL capability requires a high thrust-to-weight ratio, and, hence, the
power source capability with lower weight and volume is
very significant for the advancement of flying vehicles. Lightweight materials such as aluminum and composites should
be explored as body materials for flying cars. Lightweight
designs would minimize the fuel or energy consumption.
Technology for flying cars is advancing, with options and
tools now available to modern designers that did not exist in
the past. With the advancements in the technology of engines,
electric machines, power electronics, energy storage, communications, and control, flying cars could become a reality. Electric architecture is expected to play a significant role in the
future of overall vehicle system design, operation, and performance. In addition to the propulsion systems, the technologies
related to communications, control, sensors, packaging, safety,
avionics, and the related technologies must be significantly
improved for large-scale deployment of flying vehicles. Electronic control, flight control, collision prevention, obstacle
detection, crash avoidance, navigation technology, etc. can be
incorporated from the automotive and aerospace industry. The
hybrid propulsion strategies being developed for flying cars
such as Terrafugia TF-X and Skycar are the way of the future.

For Further reading
G. Green, Flying Cars, Amphibious Vehicles and Other Dual Mode Transports. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 2000.
Wikipedia. Curtiss Autoplane. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_Autoplane (accessed 25 Jan. 2016).
K. Bonsor. How flying cars will work. [Online]. Available: http://
auto.howstuffworks.com/flying-car1.htm (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
K. Bonsor. How flying cars will work. [Online]. Available: http://
auto.howstuffworks.com/flying-car2.htm (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
Wikipedia. Waldo Waterman. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo_Waterman (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).

Wikipedia. Aerocar. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Aerocar (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
[Online]. Available: http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/
world-flying-car-created-1949-sale-1-million-article-1.1375626
Skycar 400. [Online]. Available: http://www.moller.com/
(accessed 14 Aug. 2015).
Wikipedia. Paul Moller. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Moller (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
Macro Industries Inc. [Online]. Available: http://www.
macroindustries.com/website/files/skyrider/_1024/index_
main.htm (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
Wikipedia. SkyRider X2R. [Online]. Available. http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyRider_X2R (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
TerrafugiaTF-X™. [Online]. Available: http://www.terrafugia.com/tf-x (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
K. Hosmer. Introducing the hybrid-electric flying car of the
future. [Online]. Available: http://www.mymodernmet.com/
profiles/blogs/terrafugia-tfx-flying-car (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
Wikipedia. AeroMobils.r.o. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroMobil_s.r.o._AeroMobil
Aeromobil. [Online]. Available: http://www.aeromobil.com/
(accessed 25 June 2015).
R. Fazal. Flying cars. [Online]. Available: http://www.slideshare.net/rhnfzl/flying-cars-26620585 (accessed 28 Mar. 2015).
B. Saeed and G. B. Gratton, "An evaluation of the historical
issues associated with achieving non-helicopter V-STOL capability and the search for the flying car," Aeronaut. J., vol. 114, no. 1152,
pp. 91-102, 2010.
A. Filippone, Flight Performance of Fixed and Rotary Wing Aircraft, AIAA Education Series. AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics & Ast), 29 Aug. 2006.
S. Newman, The foundations of Helicopter Flight. ButterworthHeinemann, 2003.
J. Hsu, "When cars fly," Sci. Amer., vol. 310, no. 4, p. 28, 2014.
K. Rajashekara, "Present status and future trends in electric vehicle propulsion technologies," IEEE J. Emerg. Sel. Top.
Power Electron., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 3-10, Mar. 2013.
K. Rajashekara, "Power conversion technologies for automotive and aircraft systems," IEEE Electrification Mag., vol. 2,
no. 2, pp. 50-60, June 2014.
P. Gyger, Flying Cars: The Extraordinary History of Cars Designed
for Tomorrow's World. UK: Haynes Publishing, Aug. 2011.
J. Schultz, A Drive in the Clouds. USA: Flying Books International, Sept. 2013.
Wikipedia. Lift to drag ratio. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift-to-drag_ratio (accessed 25 Mar. 2015).

Biographies
Kaushik Rajashekara (k.raja@utdallas.edu) is a distinguished professor of engineering at the Erik Jonsson School
of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Texas
at Dallas (UTD), Richardson. Before joining UTD, he worked
for six years for Rolls-Royce Corporation, Indianapolis, and
17 years for Delphi and General Motors in Indiana.
Qingchun Wang (wangqingchun@bjfu.edu.cn) is an associate professor of the Vehicle Engineering Department, Beijing Forestry University, China. He was a visiting researcher
at the University of Texas at Dallas from 2014 to 2015.
Kouki Matsuse (matsuse@meiji.ac.jp) is an emeritus professor in the Graduate School of Science and Technology,
Meiji University, Japan. He is also a guest professor at Tsinghua University, China, and a Fellow of the IEEE.

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