Flying Taxis Off The Ground In 2-3 Years
You might be hopping into a flying taxi for a ride sooner than you think.
Many companies are invested in this space, such as Toyota, Kitty Hawk, eVolo with the Volocopter, Airbus, and others.
Another firm working toward similar goals, who've raised tens of millions in funding, is Germany-based startup known as Lilium. They have been credited with designing the world's very first all-electric VTOL jet (see video below).
What many believe might be a few decades away, could only be a few short years away from now.
A number of individuals involved with these projects recently spoke at a panel this month,TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin, and they shared their thoughts on when we might expect to see the flying car option come to market.
The CEO of Volocopter, Alex Zosel, said we aren't that far away now and that the first commercial application will likely be a point-to-point solution that is located over a bottleneck somewhere that there is a lot of traffic congestion, perhaps it will be over a river etc. And the flying taxis will be able to shuttle people efficiently from one area to another.
Whether it's Toyota with their flying car at the Olympics, Uber getting its imagined flying taxi network off the ground, or Dubai or Singapore with their plans for flying taxi networks etc, it's getting closer to reality and could only be a few years away before this will be a viable transportation option for many.
Pics:
eVolo via Futurism
Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/flying-cars-companies-2020-2017-6/#the-vtol-is-powered-by-six-batteries-allowing-for-just-17-minutes-of-flight-it-can-re-charge-in-40-minutes-using-a-fast-charger-8
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/flying-taxis-get-a-usd30-million-boost
http://aviationweek.com/awincommercial/lindbergh-cruises-electric-vtol-air-taxi-market
https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/05/volocopter-expect-our-flying-taxis-running-for-real-in-two-to-three-years/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/05/lilium-raises-90m/
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/singapore-looks-to-implement-flying-taxi-system
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/26/16365614/dubai-testing-uncrewed-two-person-flying-taxis-volocopter
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5148473/Volocopter-says-flying-taxi-service-2020.html
Related Posts:
Uber Proposes Jetsons-Like Network Of Flying Cars
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/uber-proposes-jetsons-like-network-of-flying-cars
New Futuristic Drone/Car Hybrid Unveiled At Geneva Motor Show
Toyota Looks To Flying Cars For 2020 Olympics
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/toyota-looks-to-flying-cars-for-2020-olympics
Google's Co-Founder Backs Kitty Hawk Flyer
https://steemit.com/science/@doitvoluntarily/google-s-co-founder-backs-kitty-hawk-flyer
I would love to hop in one of these to visit my family!
Don’t know if I fancy being the first to try that out, cheers
Good idea! Good post!
This is kinda funny, my boss really wants a small helicopter but can't justify the cost. Since we all want one too, we bug him about how much money he is "losing" by not running a helitaxi. Guess I'm going to have to show him some more options.
that right there is the future!! Sounds crazy right now, but will be normal one day
Very interesting to see this... the "future" is, undoubtedly, much closer than we think. It's funny, though... the idea of "flying cars" has been around for almost 50 years, but it's just becoming "a thing" now. I have to wonder if that's just how long it took, or if there was a lot of pressure being exerted against the idea by the automotive industry.
Well, I'd like to think that things just haven't gone electric quick enough.
Wonderful concept. But WHY has no one thought of this sooner. I think back to the Jetsons children's cartoon show when George would fly around. Did the elites not want this technology public sooner? We could have had this 30 or 40 years ago. I welcome it and hope it takes off (pun intended) and flies high.
As soon as this starts to take off I expect government regulation to slow it down from mass adoption.
Will we travel less in the future? It may be that we will work from home more and be in less need of transportation.