Alef Aeronautics

Alef Aeronautics is a United States venture-backed automotive and aviation company. It has been in development of a flying car since 2015.

Alef Aeronautics
TypePrivate
IndustryAutomotive
FoundedApril 6, 2015 (2015-04-06)
FoundersJim Dukhovny, Constantine Kisly, Pavel Markin, Oleg Petrov
Headquarters
San Mateo, California
,
U.S.
Key people
  • Jim Dukhovny (CEO, co-founder)
  • Constantine Kisly (VP, co-founder)
  • Pavel Markin (co-founder)
  • Oleg Petrov (VP, co-founder)
ProductsFlying car
Websitealef.aero
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

Financing

The company was originally self-financed by its founders. In 2017 Alef received a Seed investment from Draper Associates followed by another investment round in 2018. In 2020 Alef added number of VC firms, family offices and angel investors. This followed by a set of rounds in 2021 and 2022, largely from existing investors, with addition of several new investors. The list of investors include Draper Associates, Draper B1, Impact Venture Capital, Strong VC, and Luis Scola.[3][4][5][6]

Technology and service

The Alef flying car is intended to be a personal car fitting into existing driving and parking infrastructure. Capable of vertically taking off and forward flight, it is 100% electric, with a projected distance of 110 mi (180 km) in flight or 200 mi (320 km) while driving on land. For driving on land, it uses hub motors while for vertical flight, the Alef features 8 motor-controller-propeller systems in Distributed Electric Propulsion and a top of the car Mesh to allow the airflow. [7]

To solve the issue of inefficient battery use in vertical flight because of small size, large weight, and absence of the wings, Alef uses Transition. Transition is achieved by reusing the right and left sides of the car and the top and bottom wings, turning in flight on its sides, thus creating a biplane / circular wing type of aircraft for a long-distance flight. For a short range hoping over an obstacle Alef proposes low-altitude hover over a problem area, flying forward until a safe place to land, and continuation of driving. Alef calls this a "HOP" scenario.[1]

Alef stated that it plans to use traditional automotive business model, rather than aviation/taxi business model as many eVTOLs do. Hence, Alef stated that it wants to disrupt the automotive market rather than aviation. The intended use on the ground similar to a car and in the air similar to a small airplane or a drone.[1][2]

See also
  • AeroMobil (car with expendable wings needing airport runway)
  • Joby (electrical Vertical TakeOff and Landing multicopter)
  • EHang (electric helicopter)
  • Archer Aviation (eVTOL)

References
  1. "Alef Reveals Prototypes For A Flying Car Thats Really A Flying Car". Forbes. 19 October 2022.
  2. "Flying car by California startup Alef attracts early Tesla investor". Reuters.
  3. "Watch: Meet the Model A, the First Flying Car That Actually Drives Like a Car and Flies Like a Helicopter". Robb Report. 1 November 2022.
  4. "'Flying Car' Startup Alef Emerges Just Weeks After Kittyhawk Went Bust". Bloomberg News. 12 October 2022.
  5. "Impact Venture Capital Portfolio Company, Alef, Unveils the Alef Flying Car". sUAS News. 3 November 2022.
  6. "Alef lanza su coche volador con la participación española de Draper B1". Expansión. 20 October 2022.
  7. "Alef Debuts Model A Flying Car and Hopes to Sell It Starting in 2025". CNET. 19 October 2022.
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