80
One
Destination,
Two Flight
Paths
Volocopter’s
2 X (this page)
employs 18
electric rotors.
The Samson
Switchblade
(opposite top)
offers pop-out
airfoils for
flight, while
EHang’s 184
(opposite
bottom) takes
off and lands
What’s clear is that the “aero-mobility” sector is headed vertically.
in two distinct directions. First are roadable aircraft that
can be driven but require a pilot’s license to fly and a
runway to take off from and land on. In theory, these will
be aimed at affluent enthusiasts, owned and enjoyed like
high-end exotic sports cars. The other route is far more
complex but potentially far more transformative in the
long term: fully autonomous, dronelike eVTOL machines
running on electric or hybrid powertrains that anyone can
ride—no runways required, just pay as you go. The Uber
model. Each side has its advocates.“I’m not a fan of the words ‘flying cars,’” says Alex
Zosel, co-founder of Volocopter GmbH, headquartered
just northwest of Stuttgart, Germany, and funded partly
by Daimler. “We are looking at autonomous air taxis. They
make the most sense. You eliminate human error in flight.
Not having a pilot aboard also frees up a seat for another
passenger. I’m also a strong believer in vertical takeoff and
landing. Runways will take up too much space in cities.”
Volocopter’s current eVTOL design, a battery-powered,
18-rotor two-seater, flies via a single joystick for up to 30
minutes at a top speed of roughly 60 mph. In September
2017, an unmanned version of the so-called Autonomous Air
Taxi (AAT) completed a successful test flight in Dubai—a
city that hopes to have automated taxis handling up to
25 percent of all its urban passenger travel by 2030. “We
expect the first commercial routes in the next three to five
years,” Zosel says. “Full system coverage for large megacities
by 10 to 15 years. Then taking an air taxi will be as normal
as taking a ground taxi nowadays.”
Ten years ago, Sam Bousfield, a former architect and a
private pilot, founded Samson Sky in Redmond, Oregon, to
design and build his Switchblade flying car. (It’s scheduled