Terrafugia Owner Moves Transition Flying Car Program to China
Automotive group Zhejiang Geely will now seek certification for the flying car through the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Terrafugia is developing a flying car called the Transition, as well as a larger eVTOL aircraft called TF-2. The Transition will reportedly be priced at around $400,000. The company has published very few details about the performance and specifications for either product.
In mid-2018, Terrafugia abandoned an earlier plan to develop the TF-2 as a vectored-thrust tiltrotor design. Current plans called for a "lift and cruise" design, which features four vertical propellers and a pusher prop at the rear of the fuselage. The aircraft is intended to operate in conjunction with a ground vehicle from which pods carrying cargo or up to four passengers would be loaded and offloaded.
In January 2020, Terrafugia's Chinese majority shareholder Zhejiang Geely, which is a major automotive group, made an internal announcement about the specifications for a new, smaller, model called TF-2A and this was leaked via social media. The company declined to comment on the information released, but a spokesman did confirm that Terrafugia's China division is leading the development of an eVTOL product and has flown a sub-scale model of the TF-2A.
In January 2021, Terrafugia announced that it has received a light sport certificate of airworthiness for the Transition from the FAA, clearing it for initial flight operations. The company is now focusing on getting U.S. approval for the vehicle to be driven on public roads.
However, in February 2021, Zhejiang Geely confirmed that it is transferring the Transition program to China, where it will seek type certification through the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The company cut up to 100 jobs at its U.S. site but will retain a smaller team to pursue "aviation-related opportunities."
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Terrafugia was formed back in 2006. Its aviation plans appeared to gather some fresh impetus in November 2017 when China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group acquired the U.S. company. However, the company has still not published a clear timeline for how it intends to achieve its objective of having the Transition flying car in production by 2019 and the TF-2 eVTOL aircraft in service by 2023. Reports that a sub-scale model of a smaller TF-2A design has been flown in China suggest that some progress has been made, but the company continues to refuse any requests for further information.
TF-2 is a four-seat eVTOL aircraft being developed by Terrafugia for a projected service entry in 2023. In January 2020, the company confirmed that its Chinese division had flown a sub-scale model of the aircraft.
The TF-2 is powered by eight electric motors, driving six propellers for vertical lift and two for cruise flight. The design features a rear wing with propellers mounted on each tip and high canard wing. A pair of parallel booms run along each side of the fuselage, each with ventral fins and vertical flaps.