LEO Coupe was introduced last summer by startup Urban eVTOL, which had been founded just one year prior by Pete Bitar and Carlos Salaff. One brought a pilot’s experience to the table, while the other had experience in supercar design, and they both aimed to show it off in this design, which blended flight capacities with the styling of a hypercar.
Much has happened since, and it’s not just the change of name from Urban eVTOL to LEO Flight. LEO Coupe is also coming along nicely, with the company reporting last week the development of a manned alpha prototype called LX-1, which stands for LEO Experimental prototype-1.
Sure enough, this is just the beginning of the road (and a very long and tortuous one it will be), but the mere fact that LEO Flight has built several feasibility prototypes, tested them, and is now progressing to a manned, full-size prototype, is clear indication that they have plans to try and make this happen.
LX-1 has none of the glamour of the LEO Coupe, as it’s to be expected. It’s flying aluminum frame with a box in the center for the pilot, 72 vertical-lift fans grouped in four banks, and four hinged legs that served as landing gear. LEO Flight says that the prototype has already undergone “rigorous” component testing and is now getting ready for flying. The company also calls it “an impressive machine,” “like stepping in a sci-fi movie,” but ultimately just a test platform for the propulsion system in the more eye-catching LEO Coupe.
The hope is that LEO Coupe will be sold as a privately-owned eVTOL and a kit, for a targeted price of $290,000. Once autonomous operation becomes possible, its functionality will be virtually limitless. It will offer a range of 300 miles (480 km) on a single charge, a top speed of 250 mph (400 km/h), the ability to land even on a small spot and fit inside a conventional 2-car garage, and a 3-person carrying capacity. All this is wrapped in a gorgeous-looking package that makes it resemble a hypercar.
According to autoevolution.com. Source of photo: internet
