We have seen flying cars many times in science fiction movies or practically in any production that takes place in the future. In fact, judging by Hollywood’s imagination, it should have been here since the beginning of this century.
Well, it looks like they’re getting closer, because a team of Penn State researchers is exploring the requirements of vertical takeoff and landing vehicles and designing the batteries and power sources they would require. In short, they are laying the groundwork for flying cars.
Vertical takeoffs and landings
“I think flying cars have the potential to eliminate a lot of time and increase productivity and open up flying corridors for transportation,” says Chao-Yang Wang, holder of the Diefender Chair of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Electrochemical Engine Center at Penn State. “But vertical takeoffs and landings are a very demanding technology for batteries.”
The researchers defined the technological requirements of batteries for flying cars and presented a battery prototype on June 7, 2021 at Joule. “Flying car batteries need a high energy density so you can stay in the air,” says Wang. “Also, you need a lot of power for takeoff and landing. It takes a lot of energy to go up and down vertically.”
Wang also points out that the batteries must be able to recharge quickly so that there can be large revenues at peak times. He believes those vehicles will take off and land often and be recharged quickly and frequently.
“Commercially, I would say those vehicles will make fifteen trips, two a day during peak hours to justify their cost,” Wang says. “The first use will probably be from the city to the airport, carrying three to four people fifty miles.”
More than two hundred miles an hour on long flights
Weight is also a consideration for those batteries since vehicles will have to lift and land with them. Once in the air, Wang reckons the speed will be 100 miles an hour for short flights and about 200 miles an hour for long flights.”
Researchers have experimentally tested two high-energy lithium batteries that can recharge enough power for a fifty-mile flight in about five to ten minutes. These batteries can be recharged about two thousand times throughout their useful life.
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