Following reports earlier this year, Geely has announced it has purchased Terrafugia.
According to Automotive News, Geely confirmed the transaction earlier today and said the purchase was approved by regulators in China as well as the United States. Geely declined to say what it has planned for Terrafugia but the company confirmed the flying car manufacturer will remain based in the United States.
While a number of companies are working towards the development of flying cars, Terrafugia is one of the furthest along and has plans to launch its first model in 2019. The company has already logged hundreds of hours in various prototypes and has been working on the Transition flying car for over eight years.
The Transition is slated to become the company’s first product and Terrafugia says it’s a “folding-wing, two-seat roadable aircraft” that is “designed to fly like a typical Light Sport Aircraft in the air and drive like a typical car on the ground.” The model has been designed to fit into a standard single-car garage and it can convert between flight and drive modes in less than a minute.
The flying car will run on premium unleaded automotive gasoline and it will have a cruising range of 400 miles (643 km) at speeds up to 100 mph (160 km/h). On the road, Terrafugia says the model will be capable of driving at “highway speeds.”
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