 |
While several automakers are focusing on autonomous cars, the Chinese firm Ehang begins the first tests of the flying taxi "EHang 184" with passengers, engineers and civilians on board.
Constructed of carbon and aluminum fibers, this autonomous flying taxi can make a flight of 25 minutes at a speed of 130km / h. It exceeds the performance of its competitors Airbus and Uber. In addition, it is more comfortable than a helicopter.
Flying taxi: the Chinese outpaced Airbus
The autonomous flying taxi "Ehang 184" made its first tests in public with Chinese government officials on board. He is ahead of the Airbus Vahana, which is still in its infancy. The latter only made small flights of nearly 53 seconds, which consisted of vertical takeoffs at a height of five meters.
The Ehang 184 has transported so far, forty people. It reached an altitude of 300 meters and traveled a distance of 15 km in a single flight. The Chinese flying taxi [4] faced a wind force of 7, a wind speed between 50 and 61 km / h. He also flew at night and in foggy weather.
This taxi of the future exists in two versions; single seater and two seaters. According to the Chinese manufacturer, the machine remains stable even under adverse weather conditions such as hurricanes and typhoons. In case of problem, a pilot, human person, can take control of the drone taxi from a control center.
Flying drone taxi: Uber is working on a project similar to that of the Chinese
Uber does not intend to leave the field to its Chinese competitor. It aims to launch a flying drone taxi service by 2020. As part of its UberAir program, the American firm entered, in 2017, in partnership with NASA for the development of flying taxis and a low-level air traffic control system.
Recently, Dara Khosrowshah, general manager of Uber, has announced that the flying taxi project could become a reality in the next five to ten years. However, handicaps are not lacking: technical constraints, inadequate regulation and security.
Flying drone taxi: Dubai, capital of high-tech transport
In 2017, the German drone taxi Volocopter made its first public test in Dubai. The Volocopter can board two people and reach a top speed of 100km / h. Earlier in the same year, the Ehang 184 had made life-size tests, also in Dubai.
The capital of the United Arab Emirates is the perfect place of drones' manufacturers. It is the land of experiment of all future locomotion models, in particular air. If in the other countries the first obstacle to the experiment and to the implementation of high-tech novelties is the regulation, in Dubai this constraint does not exist. The city aims to become one of the most advanced in terms of transportation. it is in this perspective that it plans to launch an autonomous flying taxi service in the next five years.