Cars take off
Who, in the midst of city chaos, hasn’t dreamed of putting wings on their car? Well, in some ways this is already possible. According to the forecasts of the consultancy Roland Berger, the market for eVtol (electric vertical take-off and landing), or flying machines, could reach the 90 billion dollars by 2050, with a global fleet of more than 160,000 vehicles. An opportunity that car manufacturers don’t want to pass up. The aim is precisely to offer an alternative solution to the problems of urban traffic congestion, but not only, by exploiting the airspace to transport people and goods quickly, safely and sustainably.
Houses that give wings
The Chinese automaker Xpeng is serious: with its subsidiary Ht Aero wants to put his flying car on the market quickly. Production is expected for 2024. The rotors of the vehicle can be folded, with a mechanical system, in order to transform the HT Aero in a car perfectly suited to driving on the road. The car will be equipped with some safety devices, including some parachutes. To make his project a reality, HT Aero and Xpeng have raised investments of over 500 million dollars. Remaining in China, the colossus cannot be missing Geely which in partnership with the German company Volocopter pioneer of urban air mobility presented the 2X electric air taxi at the Shanghai Motor Show.
Vertical take-off Stellantis
But the presentations follow one another. The startup Archer Aviation born from the agreement between Stellar e Archer (American startup specializing in the production of eVtol) has already led to the creation of the first flying prototypes of the Midnight eVtol, a sort of large electric drone presented in Paris and which should enter service in 2025. The goal is to guarantee outward flights and back on 30-kilometer routes with a 12-minute recharge time with a pilot and four passengers and their luggage on board, typically in urban areas.
The race in Japan
Another company that points to the sky is Toyota, which at the beginning of 2020 invested around 340 million euros in the startup Joby Aviation, creator of a skycar imagined as a taxi. Toyota provides Joby with its support in manufacturing, engineering and material quality. Joby has already obtained the certification of FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) for its eVTOL and plans to begin commercial operations in 2024. And then there’s Hyundai, which presented its S-A1 concept in 2020, the result of the collaboration with Uber Elevate. It is a four-seat flying car, with six rotating propellers that allow it to take off and land vertically. Hyundai plans to have the S-A1 mass-produced by 2028 and to offer it as an air taxi service in major cities. For his part Suzuki. he hoped that will work with SkyDrive the development and sale of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
“Vertiports” around cities
There are those who are already thinking about structures, next to the big cities, as a base for these air taxis electric vertical take-off and landing. Indeed they are needed special infrastructure, “mini airports” for these aircraft. An early example, built in collaboration with Hyundai was shown in the UK. But something is also moving in Italy. Recently, for example, the news had emerged of an agreement between Milan Airports and Skysports to evaluate the opportunity to develop and manage a network of questsi vertiporti in Italy. AND. Rome Airports, Venice Airport, Aeroports de la Cote d’Azur and Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport have decided to set up a new company called “Urban Blue” which will deal with the development of urban air mobility infrastructures at an international level. These vertiports will allow future electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to be able to connect airports with inhabited centers and thus promote intra-city mobility, facilitating the relief of traffic congestion in urban centres.
However, there is a lot of work to be done before these aircraft can truly be used for passenger transport services. First of all, there are problems of a legislative nature since specific rules will have to be created for their use. Furthermore, the models presented up to now are for the most part prototypes. Car manufacturers promise mass production in a short time but for the moment we need to keep our feet on the ground.