Florida's first flying car demo takes off in Tampa Bay today

Governor Ron DeSantis was in Tampa Bay this morning to highlight Florida's role in advanced air mobility as electric aircraft took to the skies for the state's first official demonstration flight. The event recreated the historic 1914 commercial airline route between St. Petersburg and Tampa—over a century later, this time with vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft.

The demonstration is part of the FAA's eVTOL and Advanced Air Mobility Integration Pilot Program, which is testing whether electric "flying cars" can become a practical part of Florida's transportation network. Companies including Joby Aviation and BETA Technologies are involved in the effort, which the state says could eventually move people and goods over some of Florida's most congested highways.

According to the Governor's Press Office, BETA Technologies has already run nine flights a day along the I-4 corridor earlier this year, with energy costs below $17 per leg. Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue called today's flights "an important step forward" in what he described as taking "highways to the sky." The state is planning additional demonstrations across central Florida and the Space Coast as part of its "Future of Flight Series."