Then there is the German Volocopter, which would produce the first flying taxis: the VoloCity is designed for a passenger who can travel unmanned in a self-driving electric vehicle between vertiports (airports with vertical landing), as early as 2022. However, the price of a ride starts at €300 – which they are still trying to make more competitive. Several companies have teamed up with car manufacturers, such as Japan’s SkyDrive with Toyota, to create the world’s smallest electric flying taxi, and have already made several successful test flights, albeit lasting only minutes. Some are working on developing jetpacks that can be carried on our backs, such as Britain’s Consider Gravity Industries, which could strap 1050 horsepower – roughly the power of a Formula 1 car – to us to race through the urban skies like superheroes.
Among the many individual solutions, relatively few are also thinking of revolutionising public transport and freight, like New York’s Kelekona, whose first flying bus can carry 40 people – or 5 tonnes of goods. The eVTOL flies not with wings, but with two huge (adjustable) propellers like drones, so it can take off from an area the size of a bus stop. Not just in the city, it is also a top performer in intercity transport: it can cover a 7-hour drive in an hour, for example between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
NASA’s designers have some surprises in store for us, too, although they are working on transforming the entire aviation infrastructure, not just models. One of their key tasks is to build confidence in the travelling public and convince them that the switch to flying vehicles is not because the technology already makes it possible, but because they are safer, faster and more environmentally friendly than conventional modes of transport. Their long-term goal is to solve all the challenges of full automation, just like self-driving cars, and to create air transport without human control.
Potentially hundreds of thousands of aircraft flying at the same time will pose new challenges not only to transport managers but also to urban planners. New take-off and landing sites, new air corridors and hangars will be needed, which will also significantly change the urban landscape. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has already started to develop its own technical and safety requirements for flying vehicles, from the positioning of emergency exits to the necessary lighting, but is also struggling to officially classify flying cars, to see what distinguishes them from aeroplanes and helicopters. It also shows that without broad cooperation and collaboration between the technology sector and governments, transport authorities and urban planners, flying cars will remain a pipe dream for the time being.
Recent article
Electric airplane News & Articles
The Hungarian solar-powered airplane plan has hit the world press
Electric airplane News & Articles
NASA’s first electric aircraft to take off soon
Drones News & Articles
An Australian drone can plant 40,000 trees in a day
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Airbus and ITA Airways jointly develop Italian urban air transport
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Airbus and ITA Airways jointly develop Italian urban air transport
Air taxi News & Articles
The first air taxi airport opens in Britain
Electric airplane News & Articles
Slovenian Pipistrel becomes part of Textron’s electric aviation business
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Another aircraft: the air yacht
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Testing Volocopter’s eVTOL
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
A solar-powered device on Mars could make rocket fuel from waste water
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Suzuki promises to launch flying taxis by 2025
Drones News & Articles
Amazon drone delivery is far from taking off
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
CycloTech and Yamato reveal innovative cargo eVTOLconcept with CycloRotors
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
EHang Receives Pre-Order for 100 Units of EH216 AAVs from Indonesian Aviation Company Prestige Aviation
Drones News & Articles
A Hungarian company is developing an agricultural drone with a French partner
Additional aircraft News & Articles
A futuristic, electric rival to the rocket backpack is already in operation
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
FedEx puts drones to work
Additional aircraft News & Articles
British paramedics to start testing rocket backpack rescue in the summer
Air taxi News & Articles
Air Greenland acquires VX4 Air Greenlands from
Air taxi News & Articles
Japanese flying taxis now almost have a timetable
Flying Cars News & Articles
French startup to launch hydrogen-powered flying race car
Drones News & Articles
The silent spy drone designed for the Pentagon is ready
Flying Cars News & Articles
Bruno Senna joins Airspeeder as pilot and ambassador
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
EHang Receives Pre-order for 60 Units of Passenger-grade AAVs from AEROTREE, Malaysia’s Leading Aviation Company, under Strategic Partnership
Additional aircraft News & Articles
NASA may launch inflatable stingray drones to Venus
Drones News & Articles
The Gambit combat drone opens a new era in air warfare
Drones News & Articles
Hydraulic drone that will have a much longer range than its electric counterpart
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Swiss buys solar-powered sustainable kerosene
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Minor accident at Joby Aviation
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Airbus tests hydrogen propulsion on its A380 prototype
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
CAAC Formally Adopts Special Conditions for EH216-S AAV Type Certification
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
A Chinese company has shown how their eVTOL can cope with the most critical part of flying
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
World’s first electric air taxis to be launched in Japan
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Hungarian engineers develop unique parallel hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion system
Air taxi News & Articles
Startup Natilus is set to revolutionise air freight transport
Drones News & Articles
Drones go on duty at the giant Singapore seaport
News & Articles Points of interest
Hydrogen-powered, hypersonic aircraft
Flying Cars News & Articles
Why don’t we use flying cars ?
Additional aircraft News & Articles
MIT’s miniature robots fly using artificial muscles
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
eVTOLs could revolutionise air rescue
More articles you may be interested in...
Additional aircraft News & Articles
An electrically powered floating engine has been unveiled
Electric airplane News & Articles
Unmanned aircraft that can stay in the air for 90 days
Electric airplane News & Articles
With an electric plane for sustainability
Additional aircraft News & Articles
The jet fuel of the future can be made from kitchen waste
Air taxi News & Articles
Around 2020, the Boeing air taxi will launch
Drones News & Articles
In Europe, the Taiwanese CIRC
Flying Cars News & Articles
Chinese EV manufacturer XPeng could make flying cars a reality
Flying Cars News & Articles
The Lilium landing site in Florida is already under construction
Air taxi News & Articles
Audi is freezing air taxi development
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Israel uses airships to protect airspace
Additional aircraft News & Articles
China plans a huge spacecraft
Electric airplane News & Articles
The first real electric passenger plane
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Airbus and ITA Airways jointly develop Italian urban air transport
Flying Cars News & Articles
Flying car from AirCar
Flying Cars News & Articles
A flying car is no longer a dream
Flying Cars News & Articles
GM is further investigating investing in flying cars
Drones News & Articles
This is how the most popular drones in the world are made
Flying Cars News & Articles
What is the state of development of most flying cars in 2020 ?
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Former SpaceX engineers build a nuclear microreactor
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
CycloTech eVTOL technology
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
China’s State Council Urges Acceleration of Strategic Planning and Standards Formulation for Urban Air Mobility
Drones News & Articles
Drones, artificial intelligence, video making
Air taxi News & Articles
Uber and Hyundai have unveiled their jointly developed air taxi prototype
Drones News & Articles
American ban on DJI drone manufacturer
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
China is already mass producing air taxis
Air taxi EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
City to city with Transcend Air
Electric airplane News & Articles
Brazilian e-flight manufacturer may go public, surprising analysts
Drones News & Articles
In Europe, the Taiwanese CIRC
Air taxi News & Articles
Within months, a flying taxi will take off in Paris, which could change city traffic
News & Articles Points of interest
China is building a “winged rocket” that could fly from New York to Beijing in 1 hour