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Wall Street Journal: Flying Car Industry Ripe for Advancement
25 June 2017 || < 1 min read
The atmosphere is ripening for flying cars, including advancements in energy storage, electric motors, public acceptance, and regulatory environment. Companies like Uber, Airbus, E-Volo, Lilium Aviation and many others are all trying to get into the (air)space. Originally designed as cars with wings, prototypes are taking the form of small vehicles that take off and land vertically (VTOL) for short...
Watch: Three Companies Trying to Be Your Flying Taxi
25 June 2017 || < 1 min read
The Airbus Vahana, the Volocopter, and Urban Aeronautics Ltd.’s Cormorant are three VTOL’s trying to gain approval to be used in flying taxi services. The main challenge these companies face is overcoming regulatory approval to fly vehicles in densely-packed cities. Vahana Self-flying, seats one passenger. Range: 31 miles Price: $250/hour Timeline: Trials start before 2017 year-end. In service by 2021....
AeroMobil Flying Car Presented at Paris Air Show
25 June 2017 || < 1 min read
22 June 2017 || 1 min read AeroMobil presented its $1.6 million flying car at the Paris Air Show last week. The 26-foot wings and propeller fold into the body when on the road. Consumer sales begin in 2020. Vehicle Details Max Range: 465 miles Max Speed: 100 mph Price: $1.6 million Related Links: CNet Article: https://www.cnet.com/news/flying-car-aeromobil/
Considerations of Flying Cars in India
25 June 2017 || < 1 min read
The Problem: A 25-mile commute in Delhi takes an average of 3 hours. A Solution: Flying cars enable Indian urbanites to fly over traffic jams, saving potentially millions of hours of productivity per day. Uber Elevate imagines a network of small e-VTOL vehicles that can quickly pick up and drop off passengers at certain locations, cutting hour-long commute times to...
Boeing Will Start Testing Self-Flying Airplanes
20 June 2017 || < 1 min read
Boeing plans to start testing self-flying airplanes using artificial intelligence to automate actions normally done by humans. The company plans to use the same cockpit simulators used in pilot training programs to test the technology this summer before attempting real flight next year. Airbus, Boeing’s competitor, is testing a prototype of an autonomous flying taxi later this year. Planes can...
PAL-V Expected to Deliver First Flying Car by 2018 Year-End
20 June 2017 || < 1 min read
PAL-V (Personal Air and Land Vehicle) expects to deliver its first three-wheeled gyrocopter vehicle by the end of 2018. The PAL-V Liberty seats two and is certified to be used on the road with a driving license or lift off from an airfield with a pilot’s license. The company plans to sell to the US, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Japan, and China;...
Flying Taxis to Begin Trials in Dubai Q4 2017
20 June 2017 || < 1 min read
Volocopter has made an agreement with Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) to test their VC200 flying taxi beginning in Q4 2017. Trials are expected to last five years. The VC200 is an e-VTOL that seats a pilot and passenger. The RTA is also planning to test flying taxi services from Ehang and Uber Elevate. Vehicle Details Max Speed: 62...
Neva AirQuadOne Revealed at Paris Air Show
20 June 2017 || 2 min read
Neva Aerospace unveiled a concept for their flying car, the AirQuadOne. It can be manned or unmanned and plan to release a fully electric and hybrid version for longer ranges. Use cases include extreme sports, transportation of 220 lb payloads, and robotic maintenance. The company is looking for certification in the US and EU. Vehicle Details Max Air Speed: 50...
A Competitor For Flying Cars–Musk’s Underground Tunnels
30 May 2017 || 2 min read
The future of transportation already has competition. In early May, Elon Musk revealed the Boring Project–A system of underground tunnels that could put cars from the surface onto sleds that travel at hundreds of miles per hour. Recently, Musk also revealed that this system would work in Tandem with the Hyperloop and transportation pods. His main arguments as to why tunnels...
Toyota Invests in SkyDrive Flying Car, Plans to Use it to Light 2020 Olympic Torch
30 May 2017 || < 1 min read
Last month, Toyota invested $370,000 into a small Japanese company called Cartivator, which has developed a unique flying car with a scheduled first manned flight in 2018. The 30-person company consists of some current and former employees of Toyota, and Toyota is now offering part-time expert engineering assistance as part of its investment in Cartivator. The company plans to debut its...
Airbus “Pop.Up” Concept Announced
09 May 2017 || < 1 min read
In March of 2017, Airbus unveiled a unique modular concept for a future urban transportation vehicle. This vehicle is able to act as both a car and a VTOL. They have appropriately dubbed this creation the “Pop.up” system. Airbus envisions that this modular idea of transportation will best enable the most efficient on-demand transportation network possible. Other designs and companies competing...
Uber Elevate Introduces its Vision for the Future of Urban Transportation
08 May 2017 || 2 min read
8 May 2017 || 2 min read In October of 2016, Uber released a 98-page outline of its vision for the future of urban mobility. This future combines surface street transportation with lightweight Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft (VTOLs). The paper describes not only Uber’s idea of what future mobility will look like, but also articulates Uber’s strategy for the...
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