Are Flying Cars For Sale To The Public? Kind Of (It's Complicated)

One of the most common tropes of science fiction is the flying car, and yet so far, it's remained exactly that — fiction. Despite the predictions of many authors, we aren't all whizzing around the skies in our personal flying pods, commuting between work and home without ever needing to touch the ground. However, several companies have been working tirelessly to change that, and some are even letting potential buyers put deposits down on their own personal flying vehicles. Across the world, several cities and states are also preparing to launch air taxi services, with the earliest of those services scheduled to launch later in 2025.

Of course, there's a big difference between launching an air taxi service with limited, strictly regulated routes and allowing buyers to buy and pilot their own flying cars. So, while there may well be a wider range of small, versatile aircraft running intercity and intracity routes in the coming years, buyers probably shouldn't expect flying cars to hit dealership floors just yet.

Before considering how far away personal flying cars might be, it's worth checking in on the latest developments in the world of air taxis. Small, car-like aircraft are potentially a cheaper and greener alternative to helicopters for short-distance flights, and companies like Archer and Joby are set to launch their own electric flying taxi services soon.

Archer's founder told UAE-based outlet The National that its service was ready for a 2025 launch in Abu Dhabi, and is set to use the city's existing helicopter flying routes and air traffic control systems to speed up the regulatory process. Each of its flying taxis can carry up to four passengers and a pilot, and can fly roughly 100 miles on a charge. At launch, the company is focusing on connecting hotels in Abu Dhabi's central district with the city's airport. According to the company's founder, the price for a flight is set to be around the same as taking Uber Black, making it notably cheaper than a helicopter flight. 

Elsewhere in the UAE, another flying taxi company, Joby Aviation, is planning a similar launch in Dubai in 2026. Like Archer, Joby is planning to act as a high-speed shuttle between the airport and certain high-end hotels. As well as in the UAE, both startups are also planning future air taxi services in New York. Again, the plan is to use existing helicopter routes and regulations, with taxi services limited mostly to locations between the airport and city center. Any startups looking to sell flying cars to the general public will have to somehow convince regulators to open up a much wider variety of air traffic routes.

Any publicly sold flying car will also need to be piloted by a suitably qualified operator. Chinese buyers with correct qualifications can already express their interest in XPeng's "Land Aircraft Carrier" flying car, which combines a six-wheeled car with drone-like small aircraft that can be carried onboard. The car can be driven with a standard driver's license, but a pilot's license is legally required to operate the aircraft. The company has proposed that, in the future, a deregulation of low-level airspace in China could allow for wider adoption, but any such deregulation has not yet been agreed. Despite that, XPeng has claimed that it plans to start mass-producing flying cars in 2026.

In the U.S., Alef Aeronautics demonstrated a flying car prototype in early 2025, and claimed that the company aimed to start production by next year. Interested buyers can place a deposit on the vehicle, which will reportedly cost around $300,000. The company claims to have received over 3,200 preorders, but it remains unclear how any production version of the vehicle would get around the same regulatory hurdles faced by other startups. Alef's ground-level driving practicality is also severely limited, as it can only reach a top speed of 25 mph. Rival eVTOL startups Doroni, and Pivotal also offer similar preorder options, but face similar practicality and regulatory problems. Until those issues are overcome, owner-operated flying cars won't be the next big thing in auto showrooms, even if flying taxis become more commonplace.