Geneva 2018: Pal-V Liberty Flying Car Makes Its Public Debut

The first-ever production-spec Pal-V Liberty Flying Car has finally made its public debut at the ongoing Geneva Motor Show 2018. The UK-founded Dutch firm, which calls the car-plane-helicopter-vehicle is a historic breakthrough in the evolution of flying cars, is currently working on the final certification process to make the Liberty road-sky-legal. However, Pal-V claims that the certification process will commence after the Geneva Motor Show ends. The Pal-V Liberty Flying Car will be offered in two variants - Sport and Pioneer, and while prices will be given on demand, pre-orders for the flying car have already started for an initial booking amount starting at $ 10,000.

Pal-V Liberty Flying Car can be ready for take-off in 5-10 minutes

Unlike the many flying car concepts that we have seen so far, the Pal-V Liberty is not exactly a jet fuel powered car, but a three-wheeled flying contraption like an autogyro. Also, the rotors do not go up automatically, rather, there's some manual labour involved and is designed to function as both an aircraft and a car. This means to drive/fly the Liberty one would need to have proper aviation training with a legit pilot's license, which, believe us, is not as easy as getting a driver's license.

To fly the 2-seater Pal-V Liberty Flying Car you'll need a proper pilot's license

The Liberty gets its flying power from a pair of Rotax aircraft engines and has been designed to comply with both road and air regulations in Europe and the U.S. When on the ground, the rotor blades hunker down and fold back while the three-wheeled undercarriage retracts, bringing down the ground clearance and in car mode, the Liberty is sized to fit on normal roads and park in normal garages. However, the transformation is a quick one and in just 5 to 10 minutes you're all set to take to the sky.

The Pal-V can fly with a top-speed of 180 kmph

The Pal-V Liberty comes with a cabin capacity for two people with a Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) capacity of 910 kg, baggage capacity of 20 kg and fuel capacity of 100 litres. When driving on road, the Liberty offers a maximum power of 99 bhp with a top-seed of 160 kmph and can accelerate from 0-100 kmph in under 9 seconds. In flight mode, the Liberty need a take-off distance of 330 m and landing roll distance of 30m. Up in the air, it offers a top-speed of 180 kmph and can do low speeds up to 50 kmph. The maximum operating altitude 3500 m (3.5 km) high and it can offer a flying range of 500 km and has an endurance time limit of 4.3 hours.