An electric flying taxi made its first flight

Vertical Aerospace designs intercity taxis capable of air travel. If the plan is successful, the first units should start commercial operation in British skies within the next four years.

Established in 2016, the company employs, among others, 28 engineers associated with such giants as Airbus, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and General Electric. In the last 12 months, they contributed to the creation of prototype devices, the so-called eVTOL. It is an acronym for electric Vertical Take Off and Landing. The vehicle was approved for test flights over Cotswold Airport.

As the people associated with the project admit, they were greatly inspired by the solutions used in Formula 1. Light materials, electrical and aerodynamic systems developed by automotive engineers have already been used many times, for example, in airplanes.

The prototype, immortalized in the film, is equipped with three wheels, and the total weight of the entire structure is 750 kilograms. The four engines can keep the taxi in the air for just 5 minutes and reach speeds of up to 80 km / h. Of course, this is a test version and the main assumption behind it was to prove that such a vehicle can take off at all.

Vertical Aerospace has already applied for intercity flight licenses scheduled to begin by 2022. The maximum speed of eVTOL would then be even 320 km / h and their range would exceed 200 kilometers.

It’s like, would you be eager for a (literally) wacky homecoming after a tough party?

[Źródło: newatlas.com; grafika: Vertical Aerospace]