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After getting clarification about the associated fee, the Hollister City Council approved on Oct. 20 a one-month agreement to allow Alef Aeronautics to test its flying car at the Hollister Municipal Airport.
The vote was 4-0; Councilmember Rolan Resendiz was absent.
According to the agreement, Alef will pay $150 each day it uses the facility. The San Mateo-based company is limited to using the airport two days a week and eight hours per day. Alef is also required to give existing aircraft operations priority.
Councilmember Rudy Picha said he loves having Hollister be part of this industry and liked that it was on a trial basis because he had some concerns over safety following a mid-air collision in July.
“We all have a foot in the present and would like to take a step into the future with Alef,” he said.
Alef is seeking to test its 100% electric car, which is supposed to be capable of driving, vertical takeoff and landing, and flying forward, according to the agreement.
Alef CEO Yevgeniy “Jim” Dukhovny told the Hollister Airport Advisory Commission on Aug. 13 the car is intended to fly over traffic or other obstacles.
According to the agreement, Alef may use two locations, one near the fire station and north end of the ramp, at the airport where the car takes off vertically 50 feet, flies forward up to 200 feet and lands.
While the short-term agreement is meant to evaluate operations, including noise levels and foreign object debris, it may continue on a month-to-month basis for up to a year if the trial is successful.
In August, Dukhovny told BenitoLink that Alef is currently seeking investors and that its vehicles can reach the marketplace one to two years after funding is secured.
He said Alef had almost 3,500 pre-orders for the flying car, which is priced at $300,000. Dukhovny said that “many, many, many years from now,” when the volume of manufacturing airborne cars matches the volume of regular cars, he expects the price to drop below $30,000.
Alef joins Wisk Aero, which is developing its sixth-generation autonomous taxi, at the airport.
According to Global Market Insights, the global advanced air mobility industry market in 2024 was $11.5 billion worldwide, and is expected to grow to $73.5 billion by 2034.
In an attempt to capitalize on this industry, Hollister is part of a regional effort to establish the states’ first Federal Aviation Administration-complaint multi-airport flight corridor network.
This corridor aims to facilitate and attract electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft companies to conduct their operations and testing in the region.
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