Uber Technologies has worked with NASA to give a new concept of aircraft which will help people to commute in the Uber’s flying taxi. The flying taxi will be able to reduce the distance of hours to merely few minutes. The company has unveiled the prototype of the car which looks like a drone. They are following the plan to launch the world’s first commercially available air-taxi service by 2023.
The aircraft is called electrical verticle take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL). According to Uber, it was designed while keeping in mind the rider-first mentality. The future plans of the company include operating a network of small electric aircraft in various cities all over the world. This allows them to operate the four-person ride sharing flights in busy urban areas. The eVTOL aircraft has four sets of stacked propellers which can accommodate four people. The propellers also help during the takeoffs and landings between verticle and forward flight.
With one charge, the aircraft can fly for 60 miles with a speed of 150-200 miles per hour. The recharging can be done within five minutes. Jalwon Shin, NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate said that Urban air mobility had the potential to revolutionize the way people commute and cargo moves in the cities. It will change the lifestyles of people just like smartphones did.
According to Uber, the travel is not limited to shorter commutes and faster service but the service is expected to expand the route options and the development of landing and takeoff pads will be cost-effective than constructing roads and bridges. The eVTOLs don’t require to follow a fixed route like trains or buses. As a result, people can save a lot of time with VTOL. Uber is expecting to commercialize flying taxis in the coming 5 years.