If by "flying car" Larry really means "Toyota Camry that can fly with middle class people inside" then that's obviously preposterous to anyone with the slightest shred of general aviation experience.

If he means "VTOL Cessna with really good avionics" it's still a tall order but perhaps within the realm of "eventually possible given great determination and unlimited money" instead of "laugh him out of town."

the cost it's also another big barrier I don't see it hitting the market at less than $250k.

As a proxy you have Icon A5 it was target at a price point of $130k in 2008 currently it's priced around $240k and only a handful have been delivered.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICON_A5

off course it will be possible when batteries tripple the density without increasing weight.

You will get a 25 minute around 30 miles ride with 20 minute reserve

And without being a fire hazard.

with current battery technology this is controlled but with new tech chemistry this could become a problem.

Biofuels. Otherwise, you're waiting another 20 years.

to do a small combustion engine VTOL vehicle its even harder I have only seen it work with several two stroke engines.

Another optin is turbine like the AirMule, but will be hard to use it for civilian operations the hourly cost is brutal and noise and heat is really annoying for nearby people and even passengers.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Aeronautics_AirMule

the two stroke VTOL is homebuilt

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123200/The-ultimate...

as a sidenote contrary to the rest of the world there is no regulation in the USA for a electrical LSA Ligh Sport Aircraft because it can only be powered by internal combustion engine the FAA is taking more than a decade to add two words to the regulation "and Electrical" imagine how much will take to develop a completely new regulation for electrical VTOL.

Eh, it's not that far away if we really wanted to push it.

Just add an airfoil envelope with enough of something lighter than air(heated air, helium, w/e) to offset the weight until a decent performance point is met. The heat from the engines running could help heat the gas for added efficiency.

Hybrid airships are already being marketed by Lockheed Martin so this isn't revolutionary at all.

what about the joby s2? Is that also impossible? It looks feasible and there are a bunch of people working on it... Thoughts?

similiar glider designs to Joby S2 get 1h to 1h30 flight time with current battery density, it all depends how much energy is spent doing the vertical takeoff and landing.

For electrical VTOL the Joby is probably the best bet, one big question mark is, the 16 motors how much will weight even at a very low weight of 15kg each you get 240kg/52lb in motors a similar complete two person glider weights around 300kg/661lb.

Motors will be more like 1kg each. One can get a 10 kilowatt 1 kg air cooled motor.

Batteries are the heavy bit, and in my opinion, the future there is to have batteries capable of 2 minutes of flying, and a gasoline engine as a hybrid generator.

don't know if you ou will manage lift with 160kw will depend on overall weight, you also have to factor the weight of the propeller and rotating mechanism and covers so 10 to 15 kg is not exaggerated.