Swedish-based startup Jetson Aero has created a personal electric aerial vehicle designed to be available to everyone, unveiling its ONE eVTOL aircraft today.

Founded in 2017 by Peter Ternström, President, and Tomasz Patan, Chief Technical Officer, the company created a prototype “proof of concept” in the spring of 2018, further developing the concept over three years to create the consumer-friendly version that it says anyone can own and fly. According to its website, helping to pilot the company are Björn Lagercrantz, Chief Financial Officer; Anna Kwaśniewska, Test Flight Engineer, and San Sunner, Head of Communication.

“Our mission is to make flight available to everyone,” said Ternström. “The Jetson ONE is an electric helicopter that you can own and fly. We intend to make everyone a pilot.”

According to Jetson, the personal electric aerial vehicle market is relatively new, with an estimated 170 companies in the world trying to build flying cars at this present moment. Of these 170 companies, only 7, like Airbus and Google, have created something viable, with only 2 companies currently offering a product available to the consumer.

The company adds that users will be able to start and land anywhere they want, making a garden or terrace a private airport.

Intending “to make everyone a pilot,” the company says that safety is its number one priority. Among the ONE’s highlighted safety features are a race-car-inspired spaceframe safety cell design, flying with the loss of any one of its eight motors, hands-free hover and emergency functions, a triple-redundant flight computer, a ballistic parachute with rapid deployment time, lidar-sensor-enabled terrain tracking, and obstacle avoidance.

Compared to the other products on the market, Jetson says its ONE requires virtually no maintenance, is an extremely compact VTOL, and “recharges faster than a smartphone.”

“The Jetson ONE is built around a rigid aluminum spaceframe with eight powerful electric motors,” said Patan. “It utilizes composite carbon fiber and cutting-edge 3D printed components, making it an extremely lightweight design. It is also equipped with many safety features including a redundant propulsion system and a ballistic parachute. It is a dream to fly.”

The vehicle weighs 40 kg (88 lb) empty and 90 kg (198 lb) “all-up.” Dimensions are 2845 mm (112.0 in), 2400 mm (94.5 in), and 1030 mm (40.6 in), with width when folded of 900 mm (35.4).

The propulsion system’s eight electric motors are brushless outrunner types with a maximum total power output of 88 kW enabling a level-flight software-limited top speed of 102 km/h (63 mph). The high-discharge lithium-ion batteries, for an 85-kg (187-lb) pilot weight, allow a flight time of 20 min. Flight controls are by a three-axis joystick and a throttle lever, with vehicle operation information displayed by the user’s smartphone.

The Jetson ONE is already sold out for 2022 production, but the company is now accepting deliveries for 2023. Contact Ternström at peter@jetsonaero.com to order or for questions.

A complete vehicle is $92,000 and is delivered to the customer as a partially (50%) assembled kit for home completion. The kit contains everything needed, from the spaceframe to motor controllers, propellers, and motors, and detailed build instructions. A $22,000 deposit reserves a build slot. Production is planned to start during the summer of 2022, with twelve build slots for autumn 2022.