Will Future Taxis Be Vertical-Takeoff Flying Cars? Uber Says Yes

The true believers in vertical takeoff and landing flight are gathering in Dallas this week to promote the use of aircraft as taxis. It's an effort that the concept's champion, Uber, calls "Elevate."

Uber has announced plans to expand its ride-ordering app to the skies, with customers ordering helicopters as easily as they order cars. The vehil will not be like conventional helicopters, being quieter, safer, and designed for urban environments. Uber plans to use Dubai and Dallas as test cities to develop concepts, build vertiports, and prove concepts. They have plans to fly a prototype at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.

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They will need an industry to make it happen. The Elevate Summit currently happening in Texas is a point around which many in the vertical take off and landing (VTOL) world can rally "to bring together key stakeholders who have been working independently around the globe and across industries"—so says Mark Moore, Uber's director of engineering for aviation.

"It's natural for Uber to turn our eyes to the air," says Jeff Holden, the company's chief product officer. "Push a button and get a flight."

Aerospace companies seem to be amenable to the plans, if only to promote their own emerging technology plans. Senior officials from Embraer, Aurora Flight Sciences, and Bell Helicopters spoke at the conference, each highlighting the opportunities that improving tech can bring to a new transportation system for densely populated areas. No concepts of this new vehicle are being revealed, but the features they will require to operate are already in the works at many aerospace companies, like Bell.

"While creating a real, viable urban air taxi network isn't going to happen tomorrow, this future is closer than many people realize," says Mitch Snyder, Bell's president and CEO.

Sharing flying vehicles solves a lot of problems that plague urban areas, Uber argues. "It's really easy to demonize a car," Holden says. "It's not about the cars themselves—it's how we use those cars. We use them individually; that's where we run into problems." Congestion saps time and causes pollution, while parking takes up too much land because cars sit idle 95 percent of the time.

Urban design, even in cities that have robust systems, still leaves too many people far way from public transit. In Uber's vision, getting people from outer borough and suburbs to the city can be enabled by flying taxis. In London, 30 percent of Uber trips start or end close to a train or tube (subway) station. In the same way, flying taxis could connect riders to transportation hubs. "We don't see Uber as an alternative to mass transit, but as complimentary," Holden says.

Of course, cost could drive down the use of flying taxis. But Holden says that Uber's models indicate that even early operations will cost $1.32 per passenger mile, which is the cost of an UberX. He says it could be cheaper in the future. "It's possible because we're radically reinventing the aircraft we're using," Holden says.

This all sounds great. But even Uber's pitchman says, "This isn't going to be easy."

Helicopters have to be redesigned to accommodate daily urban trips. The big problems are engine and rotor noise, their slow speed compared to fixed wing aircraft, and the high cost of maintenance.

Holden says that calls distributed electrical propulsion "as close to a panacea as you get" for these issues. Using next-generation batteries, aerospace companies are already working on electric powered VTOL aircraft, which the industry calls eVTOL. Next-gen batteries offer long-duration flights and save aircraft weight that is better used for cargo and passengers.

These avoid engine noise, naturally, but also make aircraft safer and cheaper to fly. eVTOL aircraft often have multiple motors, a level of redundancy that avoid the "single point of failure" dilemma that plagues many helicopters. If you're flying something that depends on one piece of equipment to stay in the air, that piece needs to be maintained regularly and lovingly. That increases cost and takes aircraft out of the air — where they earn their keep.

Sharing airspace is another challenge, and one that will depend on government partners. NASA and the FAA representatives also spoke, pledging that the effort will dovetail with drone and new airspace initiatives. For recharging the company is partnering with the company charge+, which has deep

"We like to make big bold bets," says Holden. "If you're not planting the seeds five to ten years out, you wont have a company in five or ten years."

Source: Will Future Taxis Be Vertical-Takeoff Flying Cars? Uber Says Yes