Electric Air Taxis are Taking Flight. Can They Succeed as a Business? (msn.com)
(Sunday December 29, 2024 @11:34AM (EditorDavid)
from the evolving-eVTOLs dept.)
- Reference: 0175781191
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/12/28/2346253/electric-air-taxis-are-taking-flight-can-they-succeed-as-a-business
- Source link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/electric-air-taxis-are-taking-flight-can-they-succeed-as-a-business/ar-AA1wCuds
An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from the Washington Post :
> Archer is aiming to launch its first commercially operated [and electrically-powered] flights with a pilot and passengers within a year in Abu Dhabi. A competitor, Joby Aviation, says it is aiming to launch passenger service in Dubai as soon as late 2025. Advancements in batteries and other technologies required for the futuristic tilt-rotor craft are moving so fast that they could soon move beyond the novelty stage and into broader commercial use in a matter of years. Both companies are laying plans to operate at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles...
>
> Scaling the industry from a novelty ride for the wealthy to a broadly available commuter option will take billions more in start-up money, executives said, including building out a network of takeoff and landing areas (called vertiports) and charging stations. Some high-profile ventures have already faltered. A plan for air taxis to transport spectators around the Paris Olympics fizzled... Still, investors, including big names like Stellantis and Toyota, have poured money into Silicon Valley companies like Archer and Joby. [2]Boeing and Airbus are developing their own versions. All are betting that quieter, greener and battery-powered aircraft can revolutionize the way people travel. Major U.S. airlines including American, Delta, Southwest and United also are building relationships and planting seeds for deals with air taxi companies.
Two interesting quotes from the article:
"It feels like the modern-day American Dream, where you can invent a technology and actually bring it to market even [if it's] as crazy as what some people call flying cars."
— Adam Goldstein, CEO of Archer Aviation.
"They have created these amazing new aircraft that really 10 or 15 years ago would've been unimaginable. I think there's something innately attractive about being able to leapfrog all of your terrestrial obstacles. Who hasn't wished that if you live in the suburbs that, you know, something could drop into your cul-de-sac and 15 minutes later you're at the office."
— Roger Connor, curator of the vertical flight collection at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/electric-air-taxis-are-taking-flight-can-they-succeed-as-a-business/ar-AA1wCuds
[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/07/22/2025254/boeing-expects-its-pilotless-air-taxi-to-begin-carrying-passengers-later-in-the-decade
> Archer is aiming to launch its first commercially operated [and electrically-powered] flights with a pilot and passengers within a year in Abu Dhabi. A competitor, Joby Aviation, says it is aiming to launch passenger service in Dubai as soon as late 2025. Advancements in batteries and other technologies required for the futuristic tilt-rotor craft are moving so fast that they could soon move beyond the novelty stage and into broader commercial use in a matter of years. Both companies are laying plans to operate at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles...
>
> Scaling the industry from a novelty ride for the wealthy to a broadly available commuter option will take billions more in start-up money, executives said, including building out a network of takeoff and landing areas (called vertiports) and charging stations. Some high-profile ventures have already faltered. A plan for air taxis to transport spectators around the Paris Olympics fizzled... Still, investors, including big names like Stellantis and Toyota, have poured money into Silicon Valley companies like Archer and Joby. [2]Boeing and Airbus are developing their own versions. All are betting that quieter, greener and battery-powered aircraft can revolutionize the way people travel. Major U.S. airlines including American, Delta, Southwest and United also are building relationships and planting seeds for deals with air taxi companies.
Two interesting quotes from the article:
"It feels like the modern-day American Dream, where you can invent a technology and actually bring it to market even [if it's] as crazy as what some people call flying cars."
— Adam Goldstein, CEO of Archer Aviation.
"They have created these amazing new aircraft that really 10 or 15 years ago would've been unimaginable. I think there's something innately attractive about being able to leapfrog all of your terrestrial obstacles. Who hasn't wished that if you live in the suburbs that, you know, something could drop into your cul-de-sac and 15 minutes later you're at the office."
— Roger Connor, curator of the vertical flight collection at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/electric-air-taxis-are-taking-flight-can-they-succeed-as-a-business/ar-AA1wCuds
[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/07/22/2025254/boeing-expects-its-pilotless-air-taxi-to-begin-carrying-passengers-later-in-the-decade
NO (Score:1)
by Anonymous Coward
No electric air taxis, no squid bones saving us from our foolishness, no nothing.
Thanks a lot, Betteridge.
Net loss to society (Score:2)
by marcle ( 1575627 )
Oh great, a very expensive way for the wealthy to fly over the unwashed masses. Lots more noise pollution, the occasional aircraft falling from the sky over a crowded city, and absolutely no benefit whatsoever to 99% of us.
So, helicopters? (Score:3)
Are they cheaper, safer, or quieter than helicopters? What is the advantage over the existing, well-tested technology?
Re: (Score:2)
The subject of the article is actually a tilt-rotor, and it says electrics are supposed to be quieter. I'm dubious how much since most helicopter noise that goes downwards is from the rotors not the engine. But clearly the biggie is cost, and perhaps electric motors will allow the design of the tilt-rotor to be greatly simplified and require less maintenance. Otherwise they're doomed.