Flying Cars In The Future will flying cars exist in the future?

[The Simpleton 2]

Flying cars ed be a dream come true for many people who've watched them many times in movies and comics. As you may already know, such cars exist, but they're still experimental and it would take a very long time for them to be ready for the public, and even then their price would be too high. So maybe for another century or so we may not be able to see flying cars totally replacing common cars. Of course, if some astonishing event happens then there might be some change but it's very unlikely that the situation will change anytime soon.

[mahesh2k 0]

Well issue with flying cars is fuel. How much fuel we need to lift car in air is the question. We can't use fans like helicopter/choppers. Also we can't use big jets as cars. In any case, just using fuel to go for shopping mall or mcdonalds will cost us lot of fuel. Already we're wasting a lot of fuel on F1 Sports and other sports using fuels. So there is no point in making cars based on those perishable fuels. Atleast we need some alternative fuel which we can use for the fuel for these flying machines. Other than that there is huge issue of pollution and traffic. Air traffic is supposed to be controlled as well. Pollution if not controlled then will cause a lot of problems. One more thing is if there is any defect in machine and it falls down then it could hurt many people living at the bottom. This is the reason i think before making flying machine available to public we need to keep in mind those things.We're learning a lot from sci-fi movies. We modified a lot of our lifestyle in such way that it doesn't affect our generation. If we can build touch-screen, metros as per sci-fi movies then i see flying cars as possibility.

[rpgsearcherz 5]

Well issue with flying cars is fuel. How much fuel we need to lift car in air is the question. We can't use fans like helicopter/choppers. Also we can't use big jets as cars. In any case, just using fuel to go for shopping mall or mcdonalds will cost us lot of fuel. Already we're wasting a lot of fuel on F1 Sports and other sports using fuels. So there is no point in making cars based on those perishable fuels. Atleast we need some alternative fuel which we can use for the fuel for these flying machines. Other than that there is huge issue of pollution and traffic. Air traffic is supposed to be controlled as well. Pollution if not controlled then will cause a lot of problems. One more thing is if there is any defect in machine and it falls down then it could hurt many people living at the bottom. This is the reason i think before making flying machine available to public we need to keep in mind those things.
We're learning a lot from sci-fi movies. We modified a lot of our lifestyle in such way that it doesn't affect our generation. If we can build touch-screen, metros as per sci-fi movies then i see flying cars as possibility.

The alternative fuel is dead on. Not sure if you watch Eureka or not but it's based on the "smart" areas of the world (where people are technologically advanced). In there, they also use alternative types of energy to run things -- like beams and stuff like that.

As for the falling down/crashing thing, I honestly never really took that into consideration. You do bring a very valid point to the table though -- one wreck in the air could cause many more below. Unless, of course, we had some kind of invisible barriers between layers to keep things from passing through -- think of a wall, only invisible. It's a huge leap from where we are now, but I think if we are able to do the flying cars, the barrier is more than possible as well.

[Shahrukh 0]

Well issue with flying cars is fuel.

Although I can't say whether it will be able to produce enough energy to keep the car in air, the 'fuel' used in flying cars can be solar power. Since they'll be up in the sky, they can catch sunlight easily. This will also deal with the problem of fuel running out and the car falling down. Engine failures, etc. are another thing. But, hey, that can (and does) happen with aeroplanes too.

A question that I would like to ask is that why would we need flying cars?
The only benefit I can make out is that we can head in a straight line to our destination, thus, reducing travel time.
I don't think there are any additional benefits. (Apart from looking cool, that is)

[rpgsearcherz 5]

Although I can't say whether it will be able to produce enough energy to keep the car in air, the 'fuel' used in flying cars can be solar power. Since they'll be up in the sky, they can catch sunlight easily. This will also deal with the problem of fuel running out and the car falling down. Engine failures, etc. are another thing. But, hey, that can (and does) happen with aeroplanes too.
A question that I would like to ask is that why would we need flying cars?
The only benefit I can make out is that we can head in a straight line to our destination, thus, reducing travel time.
I don't think there are any additional benefits. (Apart from looking cool, that is)

You wouldn't necessarily be able to use solar power because it depends on clouds, storms, etc. Nothing would suck more than having everyone grounded due to cloud-cover. It would affect too much of the world and would slow down production and cause other complications.

As for the benefit, I think it's more due to clearing up traffic. In Dallas, for example, at 6 PM you can literally (and often do) spend 2 hours getting 1 mile. By allowing cars to fly, there would be more lanes open (due to layering) and it would clean up those issues.

Though the looking cool part does factor in as well. Who doesn't want a flying car?!

[Shahrukh 0]

You wouldn't necessarily be able to use solar power because it depends on clouds, storms, etc. Nothing would suck more than having everyone grounded due to cloud-cover. It would affect too much of the world and would slow down production and cause other complications.

Ah...yes, I didn't count that in. They won't be operational at nights either.
But it can be used as a back-up / fail-safe to fuel running out in mid air.

As for the benefit, I think it's more due to clearing up traffic. In Dallas, for example, at 6 PM you can literally (and often do) spend 2 hours getting 1 mile. By allowing cars to fly, there would be more lanes open (due to layering) and it would clean up those issues.

We can make layered roads too. One underground, one on the road (the normal ones, that is) and one above the normal road on pillars or something; this can be limited to only the more crowded areas to decrease cost.

Though the looking cool part does factor in as well. Who doesn't want a flying car?!

Exactly.

[The Simpleton 2]

Fuel itself shouldn't be too big a factor. Whenever mankind is faced with a critical emergency, it comes up with an ingenious solution; so if we're going to run out of fuel then I'm sure our brightest minds will come up with a solution for it. So let's not worry about how much fuel flying cars will waste Let's just worry when these cars will be accessible to the common man.

[mahesh2k 0]

Whenever mankind is faced with a critical emergency, it comes up with an ingenious solution; so if we're going to run out of fuel then I'm sure our brightest minds will come up with a solution for it.

I really hate this. It's like digging well to fetch water only if you're thirsty. If we start to think in this way then i'm sure there will be no technological advancement on this planet. Sometimes we have to plan things in advance. Like there are many countries offering incentives on tax if people use solar vehicles, equipments. But just think about it if we start to get serious only when situation arises then it'll cost us more than what we do for research now. Where are those brightest mind ? It's almost 2010 and there is no alternative fuel yet. Relying on brightest minds we end up wasting fuel on F1 and water sports. So i don't think this type of thinking will help us in longer run.

[The Simpleton 2]

I really hate this. It's like digging well to fetch water only if you're thirsty. If we start to think in this way then i'm sure there will be no technological advancement on this planet. Sometimes we have to plan things in advance. Like there are many countries offering incentives on tax if people use solar vehicles, equipments. But just think about it if we start to get serious only when situation arises then it'll cost us more than what we do for research now. Where are those brightest mind ? It's almost 2010 and there is no alternative fuel yet. Relying on brightest minds we end up wasting fuel on F1 and water sports. So i don't think this type of thinking will help us in longer run.

Lol it's not as if I like that idea! It's like asking for a miracle each time we run into trouble and that sort of thing won't work for sure now. What I meant by 'critical emergency' was not like 'a day before the last litre of petrol!' Today's 'bright minds' are able to foresee these events and have the tendency to warn the world. I don't want to speak about other situations, but in the case of fuel, the most promising alternative is fuel cells, upon which research is improving daily. They're so effective that even a regular bus, powered with a fuel cell, can run upto 100kmph (ow was it mph? I saw it in a documentary on NGC so not sure) and it doesn't release any fumes too. Solutions like these are promising and so we can look forward to this more than conserving petrol and other fuels, which cause more harm.

[rpgsearcherz 5]

Lol it's not as if I like that idea! It's like asking for a miracle each time we run into trouble and that sort of thing won't work for sure now. What I meant by 'critical emergency' was not like 'a day before the last litre of petrol!' Today's 'bright minds' are able to foresee these events and have the tendency to warn the world. I don't want to speak about other situations, but in the case of fuel, the most promising alternative is fuel cells, upon which research is improving daily. They're so effective that even a regular bus, powered with a fuel cell, can run upto 100kmph (ow was it mph? I saw it in a documentary on NGC so not sure) and it doesn't release any fumes too. Solutions like these are promising and so we can look forward to this more than conserving petrol and other fuels, which cause more harm.

I'm not sure about a bus like that but there is a car that runs on electricity now (battery) that gets 240 miles per charge and takes 8 hours to charge. It also goes up to 80 MPH, allowing it to go on major highways.

That's more than enough for most people already who aren't traveling. And it's bound to get more advanced as time goes along.

There are places in the U.S. that already have charging stations set up -- I've seen a few.

[Shahrukh 0]

Whenever mankind is faced with a critical emergency, it comes up with an ingenious solution

Yup, we are better at cleaning up than keeping things clean.

I'm not sure about a bus like that but there is a car that runs on electricity now (battery) that gets 240 miles per charge and takes 8 hours to charge. It also goes up to 80 MPH, allowing it to go on major highways.

Nice! If we flying cars could go that way too, it would be very much practical. With charging stations scattered about, it would make a pretty practical solution. But how to beat gravity? Lifting requires a lot of force. Especially if we want a car that will fly higher than the building. Just hovering over the road won't be much different than current-road-rolling cars. Although, even that would look much cooler, have a much smoother drive, etc.

[iGuest 3]

Flying cars in the air will come into existence in the near future. I have listened news that such cars have been invented but it is not in existence in public now. So I think in the near future this dream will also come into existence. After car started flying, everyone will get chance to fly on their own house everyday. And if you ask about the road at that time only pedestrian will be visible on the road.

[Vistz 1]

If there is a possibility to integrate flying cars into society, I would probably be against it. First of all, the resources required to make sure this plan does not fail are immense. You need to think about what kind of "roads" they will use. Also, you need to think about how this will affect airplanes. Most likely, the flying cars will not interfere will airplanes because airplanes will be flying much higher. However, you might need to take into account for helicopters.I feel like we could be spending our time more constructively than how to create flying cars.