A flying electric car that steers like the Jetson’s daily-use spaceship sure sounds interesting. In execution, though, viewers of the EV’s live prototype demo, which was just filmed in California, seemed to think the effort fell a bit short of viable.

Alef’s flying electric car promises owners expedited commutes

Back in 2015, Alef’s four founders decided that flying cars were possible. 10 years later, the company announced a live flight demo based in California.

For context, the Alef “Model A” is a low-speed vehicle (LSV) with four tires that can fit two people, the driver and one occupant.

Alef says that the driver will be able to bypass problematic ground traffic in urban areas. The EV will be able to move vertically and horizontally mid-air and at the driver’s discretion before touching back down to continue on down the paved road.

In the YouTube video’s first clip, filmed in what looks like a cornfield, the driver maneuvers the car straight up into the air, hovering above the take-off pad (which looks like a large tarp). The operator made their way across a section of the field, landing on another designated square tarp.

Next, the flying electric car navigates over a parked SUV on a California city street.

Commenters roast the demo

I’m not going to sugar-coat it. When I watched the demo, I had many thoughts. I actually paused the video and went down to the comments to see if my reaction was even somewhat validated.

It turns out that, yep, yep it was.

So, to start, the flying electric car prototype just seems like it’s made entirely out of…foam? We can assume this is due to the weight restrictions of what appear to be large drone motors in the front and back of the EV.

That alone brings up so many questions about the car’s road safety and whether it could even pass U.S. crash test requirements.

Next, there’s the flight itself. While a bit wobbly, the vehicle does indeed take off, fly over a parked car, and land again. But during its mid-air journey, it blasts the parked SUV’s roof with high-powered air currents. You can hear, see, and nearly feel the blast.

I’d assume this could cause a variety of safety issues for other cars and pedestrians trapped in the flying electric car’s windy path. And anyway, it’s just downright disruptive and discourteous.

The comment section lit up with confirmations of these concerns:

“We wanted cars that can fly like an eagle not like a Chicken lol”

“We all know that the car is made from 50 drones and foam”

“The noise is horrible. Sorry.”

“So it sucks both on the road and in the air? Looks really wobbly and unstable when flying, and wheel placement is very odd. Also the other people  in the traffic jam will love getting sand blasted by this thing hovering over them”

It’s still really neat

Listen, going innovatively electric is a long road full of some wild ideas that actually sometimes work out. Take the Tesla Cybertruck…although its longevity in the EV space is yet to be determined (considering the Foundation Series’ depreciation and fairly common owner gripes about glitches and repairs).

Interested buyers can place a $150 standard queue pre-order or a $1,500 “Priority” placement. The listed sticker price is $299K.

While I’m hesitant to believe that Alef will get its flying electric car into mass production anytime soon, I can appreciate the vision.