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Alef Aeronautics, a flying car startup owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, said it has reached 2,850 pre-orders for its futuristic vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) electric vehicle.
According to CNBC, the San Mateo, California-based company reports that the number of pre-orders recently reached a new record after previously reaching 2,500 orders for its two-seater, the Alef Model A. Customers can access pre-orders for the Model A online by placing a $150 deposit for the vehicle. And there is no obligation: at any time the “customer” can cancel the order and take back the 150 dollars.
Alef plans to charge customers $300,000 for the Model A when it hits the market. Therefore, considering the 2,850 orders, the overall value of its order book exceeds 850 million dollars. However, the company is working separately on a four-seater sedan, the Model Z, which is expected to be launched by 2035 at a price of $35,000, equal to that of the cheapest electric vehicles. The company’s Model A, presented at the Mobile World Congress in a smaller format, resembles a real car, with a mesh shell inside that protects the rotors thanks to which air flows through the vehicle.