Hello, George Jetson: The Futuristic Flying Transport is Here
“Uber in the Sky” is soon coming to a city near you
Ric Edelman: It's Tuesday, November 28th. China has just given approval for the world's first toll. It's a taxi. Not just any taxi. This taxi is fully electric. And it's not just an electrically powered taxi. It's a flying, electrically powered taxi. It takes off and lands vertically. That's why these machines are called eVTOLS, electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles.
But wait. There's more. Not only does this electric taxi fly and take off and land vertically, it has no pilot. It flies autonomously. Two seater. It's called the EH 216 S. Think of it as a drone with eight arms. Each arm has two rotors, total of 16 of them. Not only for power, but for that all important redundancy too. In the middle of the drone is a bubble, and the bubble is where the passengers sit. After the drone lands, the arms fold away so it can park in small spaces. The machine is quieter than helicopters and cheaper to operate too. The EH 216 S has a range of only 18 miles, its maximum speed only about 80 miles an hour. Expect both of those numbers to improve with future generational vehicles.
EVOTLs are being developed all around the world. There's the Volocopter in Germany, Joby Aviation, Wisk, Aeromobil and Archer Aviation, all in California. Wisk Aero is a subsidiary of Boeing. These companies have already generated $30 billion in pre-sales.
The EH 216 S has had 40,000 test flights with volunteer passengers in 18 cities. It's also gone through crash tests, and it's deliberately flown without some of its rotors. Chinese regulators have also verified that the wireless network that the company uses to control the flying taxis on the ground is reliable. Yeah, before too long, you're going to be taking taxi rides in the air with nobody in it but you.
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