Whatever Happened to Flying Cars?

In today’s news you’ll read a lot about electric cars and how they are saving our environment from the byproducts of fossil fuel processing. Unfortunately, this is not quite as cut and dry as it may sound. The reality of it is that the process to manufacture the batteries required to operate electric cars is just as unappealing, and the impact to our electric grids almost as daunting.

So why aren’t there better technologies for something as important to society as the automobile? We’ve made great strides in just about everything else from the time that cars were invented in the late 1800’s, but other than enhanced computerization, safety features, and smartphone integration, have cars really kept up with our expectations?

If you do a little research and read articles like this one, you discover that there may be better solutions than electric cars. Natural gas and hydrogen fuels sound potentially a lot better than either oil or battery powered cars (with some necessary technological challenges overcome) yet we don’t hear a lot about them. Maybe it’s time we come up with the best alternatives before investing heavily in battery recharging infrastructure.

Then we move beyond the fuel source and onto the dimension. Cars drive two-dimensionally but how hard would it really be to step into the vertical plane? Flying cars and underwater cars should be mass produced by now–or so I believe. We can fly to Mars and launch super-telescopes into space, but we can’t lift a car a foot into the air?

Now I know what you may be thinking, so let me say it. Most people can’t even handle flipping the turn signal so how can we trust them with a multi-ton projectile above our heads? Yes, we need to computerize navigation so there aren’t mass mid-air collisions that then plummet down to the ground. There are always hurdles to every major turning point that need to be overcome first, but we are more than capable of figuring this out. Aren’t you tired of getting stuck in traffic? Wouldn’t it be great if you could just fly over a construction zone instead of waiting for merging traffic?

It’s easy for me to sit here and write about our future, but I do feel we can make this happen in my lifetime. Why do you think? Please reply in the comments below.