Bay Area startup says flying car closer to reality after 11 years of work

When somebody says, "I'm taking off," it usually means they're heading out. But in Half Moon Bay, you may want to take a step back, because here, they really mean it. For years, if you wanted to catch a flying car, your best bet was Saturday morning cartoons like "The Jetsons." Now, they're taking their act off the screen and into the sky. "It can do everything that our cars can do and vertically take off from anywhere," said Jim Dukhovny, the CEO of Alef, a Bay Area startup . Dukhovny has spent 11 years trying to get his idea off the ground, and his vision of the future gives a whole new meaning to the term highway. "Our job is to take the modern technology and to get it as close to the vision which you already have in your head," he told CBS News Bay Area. The car's body is a mesh you can see right through, which lets air reach the propellers hidden inside. The whole vehicle is light enough to qualify as an ultralight, which means that, at least for now, no pilot's license is required. So far, only a handful of people have flown it, and CBS News Bay Area got a rare chance to join them. There are no doors, just a seat, a steering wheel and a flight stick, with every control switched off except two buttons. Press them, and the propellers hidden in the body spin up with a roar so loud that, as one Alef engineer warned, nobody on the ground would hear you scream. Then the wheels leave the ground. For about 15 seconds, the car hangs in midair over a field overlooking the Pacific, wind rushing through the open cabin, before settling back down on the exact spot it left. It's a bird's-eye view of the future, and a thrilling one. The field of would-be flying car makers is growing, but Dukhovny sees just one real rival. Last month, Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's version, a Roadster that flips and hops on blasts of compressed air. Dukhovny pointed out that during the big unveiling, Tesla's car flew with no one inside. Musk said the demo ran autonomously. Scott Miller, an airline pilot who teaches aviation at San José State University, says flying cars will be safe by the time they reach the public, because regulators won't allow them on the roads or in the air otherwise. The bigger hurdle, he said, is the technology itself. "The technology is still pretty far out to allow a practical vehicle that would be durable enough to use on both the road and in the air," he said. Alef said its prototype's battery lasts about 15 minutes in the air. A later version is designed to drive 200 miles or fly about 110 miles. The cost is about $300,000. Even so, the company says there's already plenty of interest, with more than 3,500 deposits so far. It plans to deliver its first car as early as next year. If the idea really does take off, there will be at least one drawback for commuters: they'll lose an excuse for running late. Dukhovny sees a silver lining. "Your boss will not be able to be stuck in traffic also," he said. Featured Local Savings