The hit sci-fi adventure trilogy from the 90s, ‘Back to the Future’, is considered a cult classic for many reasons. Snappy writing, a cheer-worth Michael J Fox, hilarious storyline. But most importantly, because it gave us a look at the sort of cool tech we might see in the future.
When Marty McFly and “Doc” Emmet Brown travel to 2015, we see self-lacing Nikes, custom fit jackets with built-in blow dryers, and even those oh so cool hoverboards. The most exciting tech however, was revealed when Doc responds to Marty’s worry that their DeLorean doesn’t have enough road to get to the 88 miles per hour needed to time travel.
“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
That quote is proving especially prophetic for the DeLorean dynasty. Paul DeLorean is not just the nephew of John DeLorean, the founder of the iconic automaker whose car featured in the trilogy. He’s also the CEO and chief designer of DeLorean Aerospace, a company he founded in 2012 to develop a flying car.
DeLorean Aerospace works in one of the fastest growing transportation technology industries today; VTOL or “vertical takeoff and landing” vehicles. That’s the technical name for what everyone else prefers to call a flying car. And as futuristic as that idea may sound, we’re actually on the cusp of this dream becoming a reality. As research gains progress on lightweight materials, better and safer batteries, as well as advanced autonomous navigation systems, we could see our skies filled with these kind of craft very soon.
DeLorean’s DR-7 is certainly one of the cooler designs we’ve seen for this kind of vehicle, but it’s still in the research and development stages so a lot of changes could happen. It has two pairs of wings at either end of the craft, as well as two smaller fins on the underside. Two giant fans mounted centrally on the vehicle’s nose and rear give it vertical boost, before rotating to propel it forward through the sky.
Once again, the DR-7 is imagined as a fully-electric vehicle, with the company even aiming to have it self-navigate in the future, so you wouldn’t even need a license to use one of these. After first building a proof-of-concept prototype just 30 inches long, DeLorean Aerospace is now working on a full-sized, piloted version, that’ll seat two passengers and will be able to carry passengers for 193 kilometres on a single charge.
Just when the vehicle will be ready, or how much cash you’ll have to fork over when you buy one, is still up in the air, but DeLorean doesn’t want it to be just a luxury buy. Instead, he’s looking at the sort of ride-sharing system Uber has, and other VTOL-makers are considering as well.
And though the day when these kinds of aircraft comes may be well beyond Back to the Future’s 2015 projection, we might still be a lot closer than you think.