Uber and Aurora presented the concept of the flying car

Back in 2017, the passenger transport company Uber selected the two partners with whom it intends to create the vertical take-off and landing electric aircraft (eVTOL) used by the Uber Elevate Network for urban transport. The two companies are Aurora Flight Sciences and Pipistrel.

Uber wants to play a pioneering role in transforming the urban transport of the future, primarily with three-dimensional vehicles that would fly their passengers in space from one point to another without the need for dense and congested road traffic. Aurora Flight Sciences and Pipistrel have been involved in the implementation of this concept.

Aurora Flight Scineces already has several years of experience in this regard, as it is currently working on a similar project for the U.S. Department of Defense under the X-plane program. The XV-24A is an aircraft that can travel in a completely autonomous manner in the air.

Combining Aurora’s three previous programs, he created the concept of an urban eVTOL aircraft for Uber. This includes the Centaur autonomous flight control system, the AACUS detection and collision warning system, and the aforementioned XV-24A battery and electric propulsion. Aurora has already built and tested in flight a concept aircraft that can meet Uber’s expectations. The virgin take-off of the new structure was on April 20th.

The essence of the collaboration with Uber is that Aurora will develop an eVTOL system for urban transport that will be available through Uber’s computer or mobile applications. The first test flight took place on April 20, and the goal is to have fifty aircraft ready to continue flying by 2020.

Through its agreement with Pipistrel, Uber wants to use another aircraft that will be suitable for short-haul flights with vertical take-off and landing modes. Pipstrel is currently the only aircraft manufacturer in the world to sell commercially powered aircraft.