Tesla Cybertruck and EHang passenger drone a.k.a. flying car are now open for booking in Indonesia

Private car importer Prestige Image Motorcars had the most sci-fi offerings at the just-concluded IIMS Hybrid 2021 event in Jakarta. Known as a Tesla importer, the firm brought a mock-up of the Tesla Cybertruck to the show, opening order books for the futuristic-looking vehicle.

According to Autonetmagz, word is that the Cybertruck is expected to arrive in Indonesia in March 2022, and the predicted price is around two miliar rupiah (RM566,298). In January this year, Tesla boss Elon Musk said that “if we lucky we’ll be able to do a few deliveries towards the end of this year, however we expect volume production to begin in 2022.”

The first Cybertruck batch will be of the three-motor all-wheel drive variant. This range topper has a starting price of US$69,900 (RM287,032), which is significantly more expensive than the base single-motor rear-wheel drive model (US$39,900, RM163,840). The electric truck’s range is claimed to be from slightly over 400 km to over 800 km, depending on variant. The 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) sprint can be done in just 2.9 seconds.

If the Tesla Cybertruck feels like the future, how about a flying car? Prestige also plans to bring to Indonesia a flying taxi called the EHang. Heard of that before?

In late 2019, the Chinese-made EHang 216 passenger drone was touted as Malaysia’s first flying vehicle prototype, the Super Dron. A product of Beijing Yi-Hang Creation Science & Technology Co, the EHang 216 has eight arms, each carrying two electric motors that are connected to propellers, making for 16 rotors in all.

The 360 kg unit has an aero-cab structure with two seats and a payload of 260 kg. It is reported to have a cruising speed of 130 km/h and a flight range of around 35 km. The EHang is a drone, which means it’s being controlled remotely and not by the occupants.

The planned introduction of the Super Dron in Malaysia was more for applications such as border monitoring by authorities and as an emergency aid vehicle, and not as public transport. Local company EastCap Bhd said then that it wanted to build an assembly facility in Malaysia with a production capacity of 10,000 units a year.

We’ve heard little about the EHang-based Super Dron since then, and the entrepreneur development minister of that time – Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, a champion of flying vehicles – has also changed portfolios. The former Pakatan Harapan minister is now a minister in the PM’s department for special functions in the Perikatan Nasional administration.

GALLERY: Tesla Cybertruck