Forget electric vehicles, self-driving cars, and shared mobility- the launch of flying cars could be the next big thing in the field of mobility.
Until now buzzwords in the transportation industry such as electrification and autonomous driving have dominated the headlines. However, the approaching commercial debut of the world’s first personal air vehicle has sparked interest in this new form of aerial mobility. The company behind the novel product, Terrafugia, is currently taking orders for Transition, the first flying car (Rocco, 2018). The vehicle promises the following functionalities: speed of 100 miles an hour, altitudes of up to 9,000 feet and both air and ground transport (Metcalfe, 2018). It also offers a “new dimension of personal freedom” and an escape from traffic jams, however, can these features be enough to disrupt the existing methods of transport?
Flying cars have been preceded by a number of innovations with the potential to disrupt or at least transform the transportation industry landscape. Disruption by definition is the capability of creating major change or interfering with the regular course of a system (Sprei 2018). In the transport industry, shared mobility companies such as ride-sharing startups Lyft and Uber have been claimed to disrupt the market by shifting the focus away from privately owned vehicles. However, according to Christensen’s framework on disruptive innovation, Uber fails to meet the criteria that would classify the ride-hailing giant as disruptive. Conversely to companies categorized as disruptive, Uber did not start in markets that incumbents overlooked nor was its services considered inferior by the customers of the incumbents (M. Christensen, E. Raynor and McDonald, 2015). In like manner, electronic vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla cannot be considered disruptive as the original electric car was superior and more expensive compared to existing products and was discounted to attract the interest of the mainstream market (Sprei 2018).
Where these major innovations have failed to disrupt the automobile industry, there still remains hope for flying vehicles in the private aviation sector of transport (Metcalfe, 2018). In accordance with the disruption theory, Terrafugia targets a niche market of private aviation customers that incumbents neglect. Moreover, it offers a product with inferior qualities but with a lower price tag and promise of a decrease in parking fees and fuel costs. The migration of the product to the mainstream market could, however, be impeded by mechanical shortcomings, harsh regulations, and difficulty in integrating the vehicle safely into airspace (Metcalfe, 2018). Nevertheless, flying vehicles hold the promise of disrupting the transportation market as we know it.
Sprei, F. (2018). Disrupting mobility. Energy Research & Social Science, [online] 37, pp.238-242. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629617303596 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].
Christensen, C., E. Raynor, M. and McDonald, R. (2015).What Is Disruptive Innovation?. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation [Accessed 8 Oct. 2018].
Metcalfe, T. (2018). The Terrafugia Transition could end the long wait for flying cars. [online] NBC News. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/terrafugia-transition-means-long-wait-flying-cars-almost-over-ncna919211 [Accessed 4 Oct. 2018].
Rocco, M. (2018). World’s first flying car about to go on sale. [online] Fox Business. Available at: https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/worlds-first-flying-car-about-to-go-on-sale [Accessed 9 Oct. 2018].