An Australian company, Alauda Aeronautics– an electric aviation company based in Adelaide, is promising the world a flying race car that will be equally capable on racing tracks and in the air. Alauda Aeronautics tested its Alauda Mk3 flying car in Southern Australia in 2021.
The creators of the famous Airspeeder, are now gunning for the Olympics in nine years, a stage where the team aims to enter and showcase their flying electric race car.
The Airspeeder is different, as it is built for extreme environments and a fast-paced platform, where it can zoom past obstacles and show its maneuverability to the world. The goal is Brisbane 2032, and it will be on the company’s home ground to deliver a new vehicle to zoom past Olympic finishes, showing off its capabilities to the world.
“We’re not a plane, and we’re not a drone… we’re a whole new transportation system,” he said. “This is what they call an eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft… it can go in multiple directions and dimensions.”
The Alauda Mk3 is remotely controlled through a simulator. This mimics the dynamics and ergonomics of the Mk3 cockpit environment.
The Alauda Mk3 comes drawing its design inspiration from the racing cars of the 1950s and 1960s. It is capable of electric vertical take-off and landing. The vehicle weighs only 130 kg unloaded and comes with a carrying capacity of up to 80 kg.
The Alauda Mk3 is also fully electric-powered. Its electric powertrain is capable of churning out 429 hp of power output, comparable to Audi SQ7’s power. The Mk3 is capable of accelerating 0-100 kmph in 2.8 seconds. It can climb up to 1,640 feet in the air.
With testing taking place in the South Australian desert, Airspeeder is flying racing pods which it hopes could be a demonstration sport at Brisbane 2032.
“Once we’ve built and tested all these flying cars, and we’ve done a number of races, we’re going to move to a live broadcast model,” Stephen Sidlo, head of media for Airspeeder, told Australian broadcaster ABC.
“And that will open up a lot of opportunities for the world to see what we’ve been doing in South Australia. We’d love to be at the Olympics and do something there.”
John Persico, a director at the Australian Sports Technologies Network, said he could foresee a number of benefits from new technologies when staging the Games in Brisbane including alleviating transport problems and improving security.
“It’s one of the most exciting areas for the 2032 Olympics, the ability to create jobs, to create new opportunities, and to create an extraordinary experience for the largest sporting event in the world,” Persico told ABC.
