Terrafugia TF-X™
The Terrafugia TF-X is an autonomous flying car.
The TF-X seats four passengers and uses an engine combined with two electric motors for propulsion.[1] Unlike the previously propoed Transition, the TF-X is capable of vertical take-off and landing by extending its retractable wings attached with pusher propellers, while aerial thrust is provided by a ducted fan at the rear.[2] It will be able to fit in a single car garage.
Powered by two plug-in hybrid 600-horsepower electric motors and a 300-horsepower fuel engine, the TF-X is planned to have a flight range of 500 miles (805 km) with a cruising flight speed of 200 mph (322 km/h) without the need to refuel or recharge.
In order to facilitate the achievement of this new dimension of personal freedom, the TF-X™ will be priced as low as possible while still allowing Terrafugia to grow to support our customers. The final pricing will not be set until we are much closer to delivery. The biggest price driver is the cost of production. It is likely that TF-X™ will be more expensive than a “normal car” due to the higher costs of the enabling light-weight materials, but with investment in automotive scale production, early studies indicate that it is possible that the final price point could be on-par with very high-end luxury cars of today. As demand increases, new materials and manufacturing processes will surely be developed and the price may come down further in the distant future.
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HOW DOES IT WORK?
- The TF-X is capable of seating 4 adults which is usually the capacity of an average hybrid car. It has a foldable wing type, rotor blade propelled aeronautical system powered by a gasoline engine when it is in the air and an electric motor when it is on the road. The rotor blades will charge the battery of the electric motor while they are running.
THE EXPERIENCE
- The wings, located on top of the rear end, fold into the side of the vehicle. The rotor blades with a variable angle of attack are located at the tips of the wings. When the pilot wishes to take off, the foldable wings deploy at the push of a button in a matter of seconds. The steering wheel of the car folds in and out pops a flight stick to control the avionic systems. The rotor blades turn upwards to provide an upward thrust for a straight vertical takeoff negating the requirement for a runway. Once in the air, the blades turn forward to provide forward thrust. Once the vehicle reaches its peak velocity at cruise speed, the propellers shut off to conserve energy. Terrafugia claims that training to fly the TF-X requires only 5 hours but, there is a handy autopilot system which will take over for you if you desire so. When the vehicle is ready to land (vertically), flaps deploy to reduce the speed and the blades return to the vertical position to provide a soft landing.
WHAT POWERS IT?
The power systems of the TF-X consists of two electric motors coupled with a 300bhp petrol engine which can provide a combined output of a MegaWatt of power (which is quite a lot of energy). The power transmission system present inside the TF-X will allow it to soar at a maximum speed of 200mph and cruise speed of 160mph providing flight ranges of about 500 miles. The twin electric motors will assist the rotor blades during takeoff and landing at vertical thrust configurations. During cruise conditions the fan blades will fold back into an aerodynamically efficient shape while a rear end fan provides the cruise thrust. The rotary motion from the fan blades will also be used to recharge the electric drive motors during cruising.
WHAT CONTROLS IT?
- The onboard electronic systems are the basic equipment found in general aero-vehicles. A gyroscope to sense orientation, a pitot tube for airspeed, barometers, altimeters, GPS location systems, tachometers, hydraulic control systems for pitch, yaw and roll and various other sensors, controllers and actuators required for autopilot functions. The on road controls are the normal ones which you would find in any plug-in hybrid vehicle which are already available. Steering when and accelerator-brake pedal configuration of on road driving and stick and rudder pedal configuration for flight control are present on board.
WHAT SHAPES IT?
- Coming to the structural design perspective, the size of the aero-car (or the car-o-plane) is small enough to fit inside a regular single car garage. The foldable wings are mainly responsible for this as due to this reason it does not require the user to own a separate hangar for this purpose. Material for the TF-X has to be very light and for this reason carbon-fiber body is used around a steel chassis to support the avionics and transmission systems. The foldable wings on the outside and the foldable steering systems on the inside are controlled by electromechanical folding mechanisms
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