Big-name companies around the world are showing honest to goodness flying machines in action, and promising to make them available to the public soon. This sudden shift can be pinned on recent tech advances: Better motors, batteries, and lightweight materials mean designers' dreams can now be built. The flexibility that comes with compact electric motors gives engineers almost total free reign, and man have they taken advantage.

Two propellers, or a few dozen? Wheels for ground transportation, or pontoons for water landings? A design that resembles a football glued to a harmonica, or something with more of a motorcycle-loving comic book villain vibe? Nothing, it seems is off limits in this new space. (And sure, "flying car" might not be the perfect term for all of these aircraft, but they all serve the same basic purpose: Moving you from A to B, no roads necessary.)