Alef Aeronautics has welcomed Tesla to the flying car race by releasing a video of an Alef flying car flying over a Tesla Roadster. The video is released to coincide with Tesla’s unveiling of its flying Roadster and celebrates Alef’s 1,000th logged flight, said Alef in a press release.
Both vehicles use electric powertrains for driving, are all-wheel drive, and share the same early investor: Tim Draper, continues Alef. “For vertical takeoff Alef uses distributed electric propulsion (DEP), while the Roadster is scheduled to use thrusters. Alef uses a wing-forming body, rotating cabin, and use of surrounding air rather than Roadster’s stored compressed gas for lift. Alef is more lightweight, allowing for a full-vehicle ballistic parachute. The Roadster has to go through a multi-year FAA Type Certification, while Alef’s current model is already FAA Ultralight conformant, requiring no FAA certification.”
“Welcome Tesla to the flying car race, we’ve been here alone for eleven years. Having competition is a good thing, especially from such a major company as Tesla. It proves the market, establishes a separate flying car category, creates industry for lobbying specific regulations, brings investor focus, helps compare technology, and creates a benchmark to measure against. We had to fight our battles alone for eleven years, so we welcome Tesla Roadster to the family,” said Jim Dukhovny, CEO of Alef.
In 2019 Alef developed the first prototype of a flying car. In 2022 Alef publicly debuted a drivable electric vehicle with a vertical takeoff. In 2023, Alef received FAA Special Airworthiness Certification, “making its vehicle the first true flying car recognized by the US government,” said the company. In 2025 Alef released the first public video of Alef Model Zero Ultralight driving and flying.
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(Image: Alef)