“This is the first publicly released video of a car driving and taking off vertically,” declared company CEO Jim Dukhovny in a recent press release. He compared the automotive milestone to the Wright Brothers’ revolutionary Kitty Hawk video from 1903, Electrek reported.

An aeronautical company in the US has released footage showing a concept version of its flying car performing a vertical take-off before flying over an SUV. Jim Dukhovny, the CEO of Alef Aeronautics, told the BBC's senior technology reporter Chris Vallance, that he had thousands of pre-orders and hoped to start production within 12 months.

But, before it gets to that stage there are huge technological and regulatory hurdles to overcome, as Alef Aeronautics and other companies trying to make flying cars know all about.

A startup company in the US, Alef Aeronautics has tested what it claims to be the world’s first flying var.The company shared a video showing its Model Zero prototype taking off and flying over a parked car on a public road in California.

Meet the Alef Flying Car, one of the world's first flying electric vehicles, which could go on sale as early as this year.