A flying car developed by Dutch company Pal-V has been cleared for use on the Dutch roads by vehicle licensing agency RDW.

Work started on designing the Liberty in 2012 and it has now passed stringent road admission tests allowing a prototype to drive on public roads for further trials.

‘We have been cooperating with the road authorities for many years to reach this milestone,’ chief technical officer Mike Stekelenburg said.

‘The excitement you feel in the team is huge. It was very challenging to make a “folded aircraft” pass all road admission tests. The trick in successfully making a flying car is to ensure that the design complies with both air and road regulations.’

Work on winning aviation certification with the European safety agency Easa started in 2015 and the company expects to get the green light in 2022.

‘Over 1200 test reports need to be completed before the final 150 hours of flight testing can take place. After this the deliveries to customers will start,’ the company said in a statement.

The Liberty is a two-seater vehicle which converts in five to 10 minutes into a gyrocopter, which can land and take off vertically in a small space.

According to the Financieele Dagblad, some 30 people in the Netherlands have already ordered and paid for a flying car, at a cost of €499,000 each. Owners must also pass their flying certificate to be able to use the vehicle in the air.