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Comment by macspoofing | Hacker News Reader

>Do we actually want flying cars?

There's probably a market for a vertical-takeoff vehicle serving a premium/luxury transportation niche - the same segment that is currently served by helicopters. I imagine you would still need a pilot's license and have to adhere to the rigorous FAA-maintenance schedule - so it would never be a mass-market product.

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Many products (cell phones, cars, medical) started off for "the rich" and gradually became mass market. I am very surprised at how many people are not able to see a future where general purpose ground based transportation is obsolete.

It'll happen once the strict licensing is no longer needed. Currently the necessary training for flying is too long and expensive for most people.

And this is where the autonomous flying is coming into place: you will not fly this car at all. Software will be certified for this.

Which means:

1. wait for tesla like autonomous software that works for cars - we have for planes but this is a bit different 2. either high density batteries for electrical engines or very light weight ICE engines ( biodiesel or bio ethanol ) to be mass produced

It's not just the flight training that's the problem. It's the expense of maintaining and certifing the vehicle, and those regulations will never be loosened.

That's how I read this. They basically want a cheaper autonomous-helicopter-uber-like service for mid-level execs.

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