Alef Aeronautics, a San Mateo, California-based startup backed by SpaceX and specializing in flying cars, published a series of videos this week showcasing the "ultralight version" of its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle flying in an urban environment.

"Alef released the video of the test, making it a first-ever video in history of a car driving and vertically taking off," the startup wrote in a press release, adding, "While previous videos exist of cars driving and using a runway to take off, videos of tethered flights, and eVTOL flying taxis taking off, this is the first publicly released video of a car driving and taking off vertically." 

About a year ago, Alef received a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration for its Model A, which allowed the startup to fly the eVTOL in limited locations for exhibition, research, and development, such as the latest demonstration... 

NEW: Alef Aeronautics releases footage of their electric car "jumping" over another car on a road in California.

The company claims this is the "first test in history of a car drive and vertical takeoff in a city."

The company hopes to solve traffic by developing a car that can… pic.twitter.com/fjrFDIBlbK

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 21, 2025

Alef's flight and countless Joby Aviation flights bring us to the eVTOL and drone conversation, where Chinese companies like XPeng, EHang, and others appear to be many years ahead in development and commercialization compared with US startups. 

The reason for America's laggard position in the global drone race was recently explained by Marc Andreessen, the billionaire investor and co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He told Peter Robinson, host of Uncommon Knowledge and a former Reagan speechwriter, that "Biden FAA has been trying to kill us this entire time, trying to do all kinds of things to make sure that American drone companies can't succeed as part of their war on tech." 

🚨 NEW: Marc Andreessen on China's manufacturing dominance

"There's three industries that follow phones that the Chinese own the global market at:

1) Drones
Something over 90% of all the consumer drones are made in China. Which is what the US Military also uses. It's the whole… pic.twitter.com/e94C927MMU

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) January 15, 2025

We suspect that under the Trump era, eVTOLs will be fast-tracked into commercialization after four years of being suppressed by the Biden-Harris regime as Chinese companies advance. It's very suspicious why the Biden-Harris team would subdue America's eVTOL and drone industry - or perhaps it's not. You'll understand here: Was Biden China's Manchurian Candidate The Entire Time?

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