Could We Have Flying Cars Before Driverless Ones?

Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL CEO Larry Page may be doing more to radically change the future of transportation than even his visionary friend Elon Musk. Page just doesn’t like to talk about it.

Bloomberg’s Ashlee Vance reported that while Musk’s Tesla Motors Inc TSLA has been publicly pushing to transition the world to electric cars, Page has been quietly working on his own futuristic transportation solution: flying cars.

Zee.Aero

Back in 2013, a number of media reports surfaced about Silicon Valley startup Zee.Aero, which set up shop adjacent to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. Shortly thereafter, Zee.Aero patent filings related to a small all-electric plane with vertical take-off and landing capabilities led to a frenzy of speculation that Google was working on a flying car.

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At the time, Zee.Aero assured reporters that it wasn’t working affiliated with Google, but employees otherwise remained tight-lipped about the company and its projects.

As it turns out, Zee.Aero is not a Google project. It is actually completely funded by Alphabet CEO and Google co-founder Larry Page.

More Than Just A Patent

Bloomberg reported Page has privately funded two independent “flying car” companies in California that are currently working on competing designs. The other company, Kitty Hawk, set up shop last year about a half a mile down the road.

If you think flying cars are a pie-in-the-sky idea, NASA aircraft designer Mark Moore said they may be more practical than another popular transportation trend of the future.

“Self-flying aircraft is so much easier than what the auto companies are trying to do with self-driving cars,” More explained.

Local airport employees have caught glimpses of two distinct Zee.Aero prototypes being tested: both with two propellers in the rear, and one with spots for three propellers along the main body.

Kitty Hawk is reportedly working on a design similar to a giant version of a quadcopter drone.

Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.