Geely, Volvo’s parent company acquires a “flying car” startup Terrafugia

Geely, the Chinese parent company of  Volvo completed the acquisition of flying-car startup Terrafugia, the company announced in a press release Monday. Before you start thinking of placing your, make sure you check your wallet. A Terrafugia flying car will set you back $279,000. Terrafugia plans to deliver its first flying cars in 2019. Check your wallet before The rumor about the acquisition started back in July but the acquisition did not complete until October. Neither company confirmed the acquisition until today, when they issued a joint statement announcing their intention of making flying cars “a reality.”

The Massachusetts-based team has been flying its prototypes since 2009. The Transition, a road-ready prop plane with retractable wings, received approval from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2012 that essentially made it street legal. The car’s range is 500 miles (800 km) at cruise speed of 200 mph (320 km/h).

Terrafugia was founded in 2006 by Carl Dietrich, Samuel Schweighart, Anna Mracek Dietrich, all graduates of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduates of the MIT Sloan School of Management by both Carl Dietrich. Their team and business plan was the runner-up for the 2006 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. The company’s mission is mission is to create practical flying cars that enable a new dimension of personal freedom. Terrafugia (ter-ra-FOO-jee-ah) is derived from the Latin for “Escape the Earth.”