Flying car inches closer to reality

For all the advances in automotive tech, one issue only seems to be getting worse, gridlocked traffic. But this Silicon Valley startup says the solution comes straight from our imagination, the flying car. You can actually use it today and you can cut your commute at least in half, if not more. Jim Duchovny says his company, Aliff Aeronautics, was able to create something we've been dreaming about since the Jetsons. We're trying to make science fiction a reality. And while not quite ready for the road, Duchovny says the flying car is about to take off. NBC News was given exclusive access to see their concept model with our own eyes. If everything goes smoothly, I'm going to watch the car fly over another car. We'll see. Sure enough, we watched it soar through the air over another car and land. But for all the magic of this moment, we were heavily restricted, forced to shoot at least half a football field away, and we never actually saw the driver entering or exiting the vehicle. But you're not still all the way there yet because, you know, you wouldn't let me in the cockpit yet. There's a difference between you and the consumers. We still have some IP, intellectual property, which we're trying to protect. So far, more than 3,200 early adopters have pre-ordered their $300,000 all electric flying car. And the company is aiming to begin production by next year. But practicality might be where the rubber meets the sky. Only a few countries allow for the kind of road to air reality Duchovny envisions. It's going to be slow, incremental approach, which is good for legal integration, which is good for consumer integration. But he says as demand grows, regulations will catch up with the tech. For now, it's still that cutting edge pie in the sky. Steve Patterson, NBC News, Silicon Valley.