![]() ![]() Known primarily as a helicopter and seaplane seat booking service on the US East Coast, Blade Air Mobility (BLDE: NASDAQ) announced plans to get into the nascent UAM business by ordering 20 EVTOL aircraft from Beta Technologies. Joby stock (JOBY:NYSE) reached $13.40 on its launch date of August 11. Industry experts believe it can take a billion dollar to build an EVTOL vehicle and get it through the FAA certification process. The company, which raised more than $835 million and employs about 1000 people, went public via SPAC this year. Joby, founded in 2009, says it plans to launch an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi as early as 2023. As part of the deal Uber invested an a total of $125 million in Joby. ![]() Perhaps consumed with questions of profitability and survival during COVID, Uber transferred its Elevate group to Joby Aviation last December. The parent company of Elevate survived the pandemic, but Uber remains under its IPO price of $45. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images The flying taxi is designed for Uber Elevate's upcoming urban air travel service. Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Hyundai S-A1 electric Urban Air Mobility concept is displayed Januat the 2020. The new company will go public via SPAC with a claimed $2.4 billion valuation. It expects the first EVTOL flying taxi to go into service in 2028.Īnother former Elevate partner, Embraer, is spinning out its EVTOL group, Eve. Hyundai has since spun out its flying car company, calling the new group Supernal. The Hyundai S-A1 electric Urban Air Mobility ‘concept’, co-branded with Uber Elevate, sat just out of reach of the gawking crowd. When it landed, it would be met by Uber ground vehicles and passengers would go their separate ways.Īt the 2020 CES show, Hyundai partnered with Uber in showing a full-sized mock-up of a EVTOL craft. In this tantalizing near-future, robotic EVTOLs would lift off, flying paying passengers up to 100 miles on an electronic grid above crowded highway. The company launched the Uber Elevate network to partner with others to build out UAM infrastructure and vehicles. Uber was one of the largest proponents of urban air mobility, promising a rollout of air vehicles in initial markets of Los Angeles and Dallas-Ft. But both will have to be accomplished before any widespread ‘flying car’ adoption can take place. (Photo by EVA HAMBACH / AFP) (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty ImagesĬreating and building such infrastructure is an entirely different challenge than building successful EVTOL vehicles and getting them certified by the FAA. The news came at the Uber Elevate Summit in Washington, where the California-based ride-hailing giant offered new details on its vision for flying taxis as a way to ease traffic congestion and improve urban mobility. Test flights are to start in 2020 with commercial operations planned for 2023. Melbourne was named the third official pilot city for Uber Air, joining Dallas and Los Angeles. Uber on June 11 selected Melbourne, Australia, as the first non-US city for its aerial ridesharing service that is expected to launch in 2023, as it unveiled new partners for the ambitious initiative. one of the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicles or flying cars that will be part of Uber's fleet for aerial ride sharing. The Bell Nexus concept vehicle is shown at the Uber Elevate Summit Jin Washington, DC. When it arrives, UAM will be composed of “an ecosystem that considers the evolution and safety of the aircraft, the framework for operation, access to airspace, infrastructure development, and community engagement.” The FAA says the UAM concept “envisions a safe and efficient aviation transportation system that will use highly automated aircraft that will operate and transport passengers or cargo at lower altitudes within urban and suburban areas.” ![]() The concept of urban transportation systems that move people by air is now known as urban air mobility, or UAM. That would be a rare 1960s-era Bell Aerospace Company Rocket Belt, the world’s first jet pack. At the Smithsonian exhibit on ‘FUTURES’ it was joined by another tech dream that has yet to reach the masses. It recently re-appeared as a display at the Smithsonian without flying, let alone carrying a paying passenger. The Nexus air taxi was a big hit at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show. Concept “taxis” like the Nexus from Bell are designed to fly four passengers plus a pilot (who will disappear when full automation arrives) up to 150 miles, using multiple rotors powered by battery-powered electric engines. But most business buzz is about EVTOL, or electric vertical takeoff and lift aircraft.
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