Welcome to Larry Page’s Secret Flying-Car Factories

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Don't feel bad, when I read this headline, I thought this was a joke too. How many of you think flying cars will become a reality? How many of you think they will become a reality in our lifetime?

Zee.Aero now employs close to 150 people. Its operations have expanded to an airport hangar in Hollister, about a 70-minute drive south from Mountain View, where a pair of prototype aircraft takes regular test flights. The company also has a manufacturing facility on NASA’s Ames Research Center campus at the edge of Mountain View. Page has spent more than $100 million on Zee.Aero, say two of the people familiar with the company, and he’s not done yet.
 
This isn't just for fun either, it is actually business imperative for Google because housing prices are so out of control in the bay area that employees don't want to live here. Enabling fast, easy daily commuting from much further distances could completely change this.


Steve said:
Don't feel bad, when I read this headline, I thought this was a joke too. How many of you think flying cars will become a reality? How many of you think they will become a reality in our lifetime?

Zee.Aero now employs close to 150 people. Its operations have expanded to an airport hangar in Hollister, about a 70-minute drive south from Mountain View, where a pair of prototype aircraft takes regular test flights. The company also has a manufacturing facility on NASA’s Ames Research Center campus at the edge of Mountain View. Page has spent more than $100 million on Zee.Aero, say two of the people familiar with the company, and he’s not done yet.
Click to expand...
 
So, rather than buy a million dollar outhouse to live in, they buy a million dollar car-plane?
 
There are already car planes being made, and they cost considerably less than 1 million dollars. I think the models being sold as early as next year go for under $300k. Granted that is still a lot of money, but its far less than 1 million and would be pretty attractive for many people who would rather live with more space than pay a ton for a small home in the city.
 
I don't know, flying cars could be feasible, using lighter than air materials or magnetic levitation. Will we see it? Probably not and even if we do I think it's a matter of time before personal vehicles as a concept are crushed by very effective mass transit. It's just more efficient.
 
Could work, but the problem has always been training people to fly.

But now with AI they don't have that problem. So we'll see.
 
I really want the press to stop saying these are even comparable to the "Jetson" type of flying conveyance...This is nothing more than an rotary/fixed wing aircraft, made road legal. I want a REAL flying car! I mean really? Up here is Washington State there is a place called Diamond Point, where instead of standard garages, there are little hangars where planes are kept. Only difference is, you can't get groceries. So yeah, not a new idea...
 
Flying cars will not work with propulsion system based on internal combustion (which is the only viable form we have currently).

Just look at how much noise a Cesna makes when it fly's over your house, and it's like a mile away from you. And it's just 1 up in the sky. There are some electric planes on the horizon though that even have good range.

The other problem is that gravity and roads give us some immense pleasures when it comes to emergency situations.

Also....traffic on the road.....becomes traffic in the air. And you won't be able to just fly anywhere you want, there will be corridors....mostly related to the issue of emergencies.

I just do not see the "Jettsons" idea of personal travel becoming a reality. While I do not use public transportation, personal travel IS THE ISSUE. That's what needs to be dealt with. That's why we have the congestions.
 
I applied for a job at Zee.Aero a couple of years ago. They are serious, believe me. It was definitely the most unique place I ever almost worked at.
 
They may become more of a reality once automation improves.

Flying is orders of magnitude more complicated than driving, and people can barely even seem to handle driving. Flying cars will probably be a thing at some point, but in order for there to be mass adoption, automated piloting will need to improve to the point where they only require minimal user input.
 
halcyon said:
This isn't just for fun either, it is actually business imperative for Google because housing prices are so out of control in the bay area that employees don't want to live here. Enabling fast, easy daily commuting from much further distances could completely change this.
Click to expand...

Or - you know - they could just decentralize and spread out their operations.

Software development is one of the few employment tasks in which remote collaboration works exceedingly well. There is no need for all of their people to be congested in the bay area. There could be a future where google has little mini-offices of only a handful of people in every city and town in the U.S.
 
Quix said:
I don't know, flying cars could be feasible, using lighter than air materials or magnetic levitation. Will we see it? Probably not and even if we do I think it's a matter of time before personal vehicles as a concept are crushed by very effective mass transit. It's just more efficient.
Click to expand...

Mass transit more efficient? Maybe if you are just looking at energy usage.

It's much less efficient when it comes to personal time (it would take me 3-4 times as long to get to the office compared to just driving)

In most cases it's also less efficient from a money stand point. Mass transit tends to be heavily subsidized, because it they charged what it actually costs, nobody would be riding it.
Mass transit (at least here in California) is subsidized by people driving cars via gas taxes that are redirected to mass transit instead of fixing the roads.

Just wait until we have reliable self driving cars. A long commute won't be as big of a deal if you can eat breakfast, read the paper or even take a nap while the car drives to to/from work.
 
Chas said:
So, rather than buy a million dollar outhouse to live in, they buy a million dollar car-plane?
Click to expand...

More like, instead of buying a way north of a million dollar house, you invest a few hundred grand in a human quadcopter, and then buy a <$1M house further out. The spread could be huge, assuming the transport cost is in low hundreds of thousands.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Or - you know - they could just decentralize and spread out their operations.

Software development is one of the few employment tasks in which remote collaboration works exceedingly well. There is no need for all of their people to be congested in the bay area. There could be a future where google has little mini-offices of only a handful of people in every city and town in the U.S.
Click to expand...

I disagree strongly. Any time you take a team and physically spread them out you lose efficiency, knowledge sharing, camaraderie, and energy. If you could put the entire team responsible for a product in it's own location then sure, that could dampen the loss, but otherwise it is just begging for trouble.
 
This is the new Silicon Valley. The days of the startup craze are going the way of dot-coms and the new Silicon Valley consists of the pet projects of its ultra-rich residents. For all we know, Larry Page is busy fulfilling a lifelong dream of making Back to the Future II real.

All I'm saying is, I can't wait for my jacket with adjustable sleeves. I'm looking at you, Larry.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Or - you know - they could just decentralize and spread out their operations.

Software development is one of the few employment tasks in which remote collaboration works exceedingly well
Click to expand...

It works, but I can't say it works well. I'm old fashioned and like interacting with co-workers in a zero latency full-HD experience. Wireless co-workers can be frustrating (in my experience at least).
 
image.jpeg
Here is a picture I found enlightening when I saw it. Mind you I lived here my entire life minus a few years.
 
If you can afford a $1 Million toy, then you've likely already got effective transportation to and from work figured out.
 
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