Boeing's self-flying car nails first flight, inches closer to launch

In the first flight, Boeing tested take-off and landing capabilities of its autonomous passenger air vehicle (PAV).

The prototype, powered by an electric propulsion system, lifted-off on its own, hovered for a while, and landed back on the ground, verifying its autonomous and ground control systems.

This marks a major feat for the company as a year ago PAV was nothing but a concept.

Though this is just the first test, Boeing hopes its fully-autonomous air vehicle will make urban air mobility a real thing.

The company believes its self-flying cars, when ready, would be able to ferry passengers, even cargo, across the city by flying over congested roads and dodging massive skyscrapers.

With a maximum range of 80km, this could be extremely handy in evading traffic situations.

For now, Boeing plans to close in on its ultimate goal by completing additional flight tests in the near future.

As part of this, the aircraft manufacturer will conduct forward and wing-borne flights of the 30-feet-long passenger air vehicle.

It will also advance the vehicle's safety systems and test how it transitions between vertical and forward-flight modes.

Boeing is moving ahead with advancement and testing phase of its passenger air vehicle prototype.

As such, the work is still in progress and there's no exact timeline for when we might see an actual self-flying taxi in the sky.

Notably, it is not just Boeing in this race; Larry Page's Cora, Airbus, and several Chinese firms are also working on flying car projects.