[TechWeb Report] On December 17, according to foreign media reports, Paulo Cesar de Souza, CEO of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer SA, said recently that the electric "Flying" business jointly developed by Uber and the company is likely to be put into commercial operations in 2024.
Embraer SA CEO Souza said that it was a year later than Uber's latest expectations. Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden said last month that the company will launch a paid same-city flying (flying taxi) service in 2023.
Souza also stated that the current business model and financial investment in this cooperation have not yet been clarified.
Souza said that the two companies will quickly determine the specific parameters of the vertical take-off and landing aircraft. He said the engineers expected the aircraft to transport one pilot and four passengers, with a flight altitude of 800 to 1,000 meters.
The aircraft will be powered by a battery and can be charged in just 5 minutes.
Uber also signed a deal with NASA last month to help it develop the transportation system for the flying car project and hopes to start testing in 2020. Uber plans to conduct air traffic service testing in Los Angeles in 2020, with the goal of providing flying taxi services ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Uber announced in April this year that the air taxi network, known as the Elevate Network, will start testing operations as early as 2020. The initial cooperation cities were selected as Dallas -Fort Worth region and Dubai, UAE.
Uber Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden said that Urban Aviation is a natural next strategy for Uber, and we are working hard to turn "one-click speed" into reality. Jeff Holden said the Elevate Network charges will be comparable to Uber X's.
Uber chose to collaborate with partners to develop flying cars. This all-electric aircraft has vertical take-off and landing capability (VTOL) without a runway. Uber's partners include Embraer, Embraer, and UAV manufacturer Aurora Flight Sciences, a drone manufacturer located in , Virginia, U.S., and helicopter manufacturer Bell Helicopter.
As early as the 1950s and 1960s, people started talking about flying cars, and now it seems that it is really coming true.
In addition to Uber, many companies are now developing flying cars. For example, Slovakia's flying car company AeroMobil has also announced that its products will be available for sale at the end of the year. Alphabet CEO Larry Page -backed startup Kitty Hawk also announced its prototype of its speed and said it will be available for sale within the year.
Chinese manufacturer Geely Holdings announced last month that it had acquired the US Terrafugia Flying Automobile Company. The company is headquartered in , Massachusetts, USA and was founded in 2006 by five MIT graduates. The company is committed to developing new travel methods, focusing on the design and manufacturing of flying cars, and has cutting-edge advantages in the fields of innovative technology, engineering and production in the future. As of now, many well-run prototype cars have been successfully developed, and the first flying car will be launched in 2019 and the world's first vertical take-off and landing flight car in 2023. Geely Holdings Group said it will use the technical expertise and innovative experience accumulated in the automotive industry to help and support Terrafugia. Terrafugia flying cars can fly more than about 640km, have a maximum speed of about 160km/h, and support advanced safe and automatic flight capabilities.
Other well-known flying car R&D companies include Airbus Group, Moller International, Xplorair, PAL-V, Joby Aviation, Volocopter, Haynes Aero, Parajet, Lilium, Samson Motorworks, EHang, etc. (Song Xing)
