ROBOTAXIS / FLYING TAXIS
HONDA’S SECRET AIR TAXI COULD BE HITTING THE SKIES SOON
Honda is developing a secret electric air taxi (eVTOL) and has secured approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for test flights of a small prototype, three years after announcing it would enter the electric air-taxi world. Honda’s website says the eVTOL would have eight propellers for vertical lift and two rear-mounted propellers for forward propulsion. The eVTOLmay also have a hybrid
propulsion system with a gas turbine generator, giving it a range of 250 miles.
Honda is joining two other global
automotive makers with big stakes in the eVTOL world. Supernal, which is backed by parent Hyundai, will be doing its first full- scale prototype test in 2025, while Toyota is Joby’s largest financial backer, having recently invested $500m plus $394m in 2020. Meanwhile, Chinese company EHang is testing new battery tech that could significantly extend the flight time of their existing eVTOL.
DUBAI FLYING TAXIS COULD BE TAKING OFF SOONER THAN YOU WOULD THINK
You’ll soon be able to take a 10- minute low-cost flight between some of Dubai’s busiest land- marks. The traffic-busting Dubai flying taxis are expected to arrive in the city at the end of 2025 with flights initially taking off from four key points of the city. A collaboration between the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, Joby Aviation and Skyports Infra- structure, is set to transform public transport as we know it. Along with aircraft tests, once completed it will see Dubai become the first city in the world to have inner-city air transport. On 17 September, the RTA confirmed that the first of four vertiports will be operational in the first quarter of 2026 and on 12 November, it was confirmed that the first vertiport is being built at Dubai International Airport (DXB). In October, Dubai public parking group Parkin confirmed that they will develop parking facilities to be
64
minutes it currently takes. It will be able to carry a pilot plus four passengers and fly at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. At the vertiport, getting in and out of the air taxi will take only a matter of minutes and isn’t expected to
have the same
used at the vertiports so you’ll be able to park and ride when the flying taxis finally arrive. Plans have also been outlined for air taxis to eventually travel between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The aim is for tickets to cost no more than a ride in an Uber Black but will take roughly a third of the time a car would to get across the city. Since Uber is a global partner of Joby, you can expect to book a ride using the ride-hailing app. A journey between DXB and Palm Jumeirah will take around 10 minutes as opposed to the 45
stringent security checks that a flight out of DXB would take. Tests will carried be out on the air taxi in California and, soon, in the desert in the UAE to guarantee that it will be as safe as possible when it eventually launches. With six rotors on each aircraft, there’s an additional bit of security when flying as opposed to the one rotor in a helicopter. Flights will be between 1,000 and 3,000 feet in the air which should enable operation of a mobile phone. On launch, there will likely just be a few vehicles but Joby Aviation say they plan to eventually have a fleet of 100 taking to the sky.
DECEMBER 2024 PHTM
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