If you can’t get the Millennium Falcon or the Enterprise in your backyard, this might be the next best thing.
A flying car prototype called the Sky Commuter will be sold by Barrett-Jackson auctions in Arizona next week.
Made by now-defunct Washington company Sky Innovations in the ’80s, the Sky Commuter was designed by Boeing engineers who reportedly spent $6 million developing the project. That’s over $11 million today, so it’s no wonder the firm ran out of cash before the work was done.
With three fans generating lift, the Sky Commuter is essentially a tricopter fed by a gas turbine. Whether on the ground or in the air, the exhaust gas is ejected out the back to provide forward thrust, allowing it to (hypothetically) act like the hummingbird that appears on the logo.
Sky Innovations claimed that the Sky Commuter made several successful test flights during development, but unfortunately they were never filmed, photographed, or witnessed outside the company. Theoretically, the vehicle could cruise at 85 mph over a range of 225 miles.
Seems legit. If you end up with the Sky Commuter in your garage, though, we don’t recommend testing it.
It’s an undeniably cool thing. Nerdy, impractical, and silly? Check, check, check. But it has true nostalgic appeal, and you’ll definitely be the only person on the block with one.
The cockpit is 32 flavors of retro, it looks like spacecraft from Battlestar Galactica, and it has vertical takeoff. Sort of.
With 60 or so investors reportedly involved, the company clearly planned to build more than the three prototypes that actually came to fruition. However, the one currently up for auction is the sole remaining example, so chances of ownership are rare.
For those dead set on a avionic commuting, Massachusetts firm Terrafugia claims its Transition aerocar will be flying (and driving) in the next three years. You might want to hold off on that second loan though, because that’s the thing about these types of companies.
(Photos via Barrett-Jackson auctions)
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.