By: Oladiran Olaoluwa

A lot of impossibilities have been made possible in the automotive industry. From vehicles with amazing speed to self-driving cars and now to cars on the airways. The automotive industry has been through ups and downs since its inception in the early 19th Century.

There had been other designs for cars before now, but the present day vehicles work on the system that was invented in the 19th Century by a German inventor, Karl Benz, who built the Benz Patent-Motor Wagon. At one point in the world of science, some scientists claimed that our mobility as humans would always be limited, but what do we have now? An impossibility made possible.

The world of technology has seen beyond just cars on the road as a means of transportation but advancement into self-driving cars, electric cars and even more breathtaking, flying cars.

It is important to note that flying cars didn’t just fall from the skies, its existence has developed over a long period of time. As early as 1917, aviation engineers had been working on hybrids between cars and airplanes. To no avail, it never achieved sustained flight.

In 1946, Robert Fulton developed the Airphibian, a car with detachable wing and tail parts. This was the first roadable aircraft certified by the U.S. Civil Aviation Authority.

In later times, Aerocar was designed and developed by Molt Taylor and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These cars never reached mass production because of their cost and other limitations.

The automobile industry faced a lot of insurmountable hurdles at the time of its inception and development despite great and innovative attempts. These challenges include bulky design, safety concerns for the commercial designs of these cars and the absence of supporting infrastructure.

Eventually, the dream of flying cars became a reality in the 21st Century. This marked an amazing technological breakthrough in the automotive world. This technological breakthrough includes the concept of electric propulsion, use of lightweight materials, autonomous systems, AI, page sizing and handling connectivity in smart city imagination and lots more. This  advancement has  made it possible to design vehicles that are safe, quiet, more energy-efficient and user friendly than the earlier prototypes.

In the automotive industry, several companies across the world are currently competing to design, make and commercialize the production of these flying vehicles.