Dr Paul Moller has spent 30 years developing the flying car with his company, Moller International. Throughout 3 decades, many fans had hoped to see the culmination of his work, the M400 Skycar, not only fly but actually reach production. Unfortunately, fans of the company have had their hopes pretty much crushed, time and time again. Throughout the years, Moller assured followers, time and time again, production is just around the corner , the company is going to be performing tests and reaching production as soon as they reach some – engineering, funding or regulation goal. After many years of empty promises and missed deadlines, the only flight test Moller was able to pull off, has been a ridiculous hover test, while the vehicle was tethered to a crane. The crane reportedly was required for insurance reasons.
It is not that Moller is incompetent, his M400 Skycar appears to be a capable vehicle with specs that include – 8 × 530cc Rotapower rotary engines, each producing 180 hp, capable of running on any fuel, room for up to four passengers, calculated range of 805 miles (1,213 km) and cruise speed of 308 MPH. Dr. Moller is a gifted promoter and engineer but not so talented on the business side. All this begs the question; will some one (like Richard Branson), please invest in Moller International and get things moving already? Please?? It is very difficult to see 3 decades of work, slowly slip into oblivion, as a world full of upstarts, such as Lillium and Ehang, who are actively test flying cars – in free flight, sans any cranes or excuses.
For those not familiar with Richard Branson, he is an English business magnate (of rockstar like proportions), investor and philanthropist who founded the Virgin Group, which controls more than 400 companies, including; Virgin Records, Virgin Galactic and most recently, the Elon Musk inspired – Hyperloop One. Basically, if anyone is capable of getting Moller International and the M400 Skycar, back on track and into production, it is Sir Richard Branson.
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