(KRON) -- Flying cars are closer to becoming a reality. A Bay Area company has been testing a prototype and just got federal approval to take the skies.
The vision the company "Alef" has for the near future is something you see in this video they released (above) of cars flying well above the Bay Bridge.
"I grew up reading Azimov, Bradbury and some other science-fiction writers and mostly watching Back to the Future Fifth Element and Blade Runner," said co-founder Jim Dukhovny Alef.
Innovator Jim Dukhovny was inspired by science fiction to make flying cars a reality. Together with these three men they gathered in a Palo Alto cafe and sketched a rough drawing of what it could look like.
Seven years later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given them the green light to take their model a prototype to the skies.
"So this is a limited special airworthiness approval which allows us to fly in very limited spaces for very limited purposes. That being said, it's very important for us because it gives us the freedom to do a lot of flight testing, to show it to people, to do public demonstrations. This is something we expect to do pretty soon," Dukhovny said.
Dukhovny believes this is the next efficient mode of travel -- like the evolution from a horse and carriage to the traditional car.
The 'Alef Model A' is 100% electric, fits in a garage and can drive on the road and take off and land vertically like a helicopter but with significantly less wind force and noise, according to the company.
The vehicle is listed at $300,000, but the hope is to one day make it affordable by slashing the cost to around $30,000 in the future. Dukhovny predicts the flying car will be made widely available to the masses ideally by the year 2030.
Alef is already offering pre-orders for the flying car -- $150 to get in line and $1500 for the priority waitlist.
The FAA will have to continue to create regulations for airborne vehicles.
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We'll have to see what kind of license and training the general public will have to get to operate one of the machines.
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