Forward-looking: The idea of personal flying vehicles - be it cars, bikes or anything between - has been around for decades. Popularized by science fiction, they've largely remained in that realm and probably will for the foreseeable future. Still, it's fun to dream, right?
French automaker Lazareth in December teased la moto volante, or the flying bike. The product depicted in the promo looked more like something Batman would ride. The teaser was so polished, in fact, that some didn't know if it was an actual product Lazareth was working on or simply a concept vision of the future.
Thanks to a recent video update, we now know the former seems the likely candidate.
Lazareth in the above clip demonstrates the bike's ability to hover under its own power on a tether, complete with rider (although might I add, a very petite rider). The bike is also shown driving on its wheels although it's unclear what sort of propulsion system it is using.
When hovering, however, it's incredibly loud and sounds like a jet engine taking off.
As Elon Musk correctly pointed out, the problem - again highlighted with this flying bike - is in the propulsion system. Spinning rotors are loud, and really, we already have that - it's called a helicopter. For flying vehicles to really excel, they'd seemingly need some sort of revolutionary propulsion system... magnetic levitation, that sort of thing.