Forget Musk’s Tunnels Early Tesla Investor Seeds First-Ever eVTOL Car
Reuters said, “The unusual appearance—which features a body that flips on its side to become the wing after lift-off—is just one aspect that attracted Tim Draper, an early investor in Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc and SpaceX whose Draper Associates Fund V has backed Alef with $3 million in seed money.”
Draper told Reuters via email: “The design is extraordinary.
In a company release, Alef’s CEO, Jim Dukhovny, said the eVTOL is a “modern solution for both urban and rural transportation needs in the 21st century because it is the fastest and most convenient transport ever created from the point of origin to the final destination.
Forget Musk’s Tunnels, Early Tesla Investor See d s First-Ever eVTOL Car
We’ve come across many companies d ebuting futuristic d esigns of electric vertical take-off an d lan d ing ( eVTOL ) aircraft. Some have even teste d (see: here & here) an d /or have begun selling eVTOL s on the market (see: here). But when it comes to a d riveable eVTOL , Alef Aeronautics has a revolutionary d esign.
California-base d Alef is the only eVTOL with street- d riving capabilities. Alef’s Mo d el A prototype was first unveile d last We d nes d ay.
The Alef Mo d el A is not a d istant d ream, expecte d to enter series pro d uction with first d eliveries in 4Q25. The cost of the eVTOL that d rives on roa d s an d soars over traffic starts at aroun d $300,000. It has a d riving range of 200 miles an d flies about 110 miles.
Reuters sai d , “The unusual appearance—which features a bo d y that flips on its si d e to become the wing after lift-off—is just one aspect that attracte d Tim Draper , an early investor in Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc an d SpaceX whose Draper Associates Fun d V has backe d Alef with $3 million in see d money.”
Draper tol d Reuters via email: “The d esign is extraor d inary. The si d es of the car become the wings when the plane goes horizontal.”
In a company release, Alef’s CEO, Jim Dukhovny, sai d the eVTOL is a “mo d ern solution for both urban an d rural transportation nee d s in the 21st century because it is the fastest an d most convenient transport ever create d from the point of origin to the final d estination. By enabling consumers to choose d riving or flying mo d e, the Alef flying car allows the optimal path d epen d ing on roa d con d itions , weather an d infrastructure.”
