Uber Air plans electric flying taxi

Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne are in the mix for the third city on a worldwide list for a possible Uber Air electric flying taxi service.

The California-based ridesharing firm plans to test the technology in Los Angeles and Dallas in Texas, with one of the three southern hemisphere cities expected to be revealed by the end of 2018.

Uber is working with Boeing to introduce the flying taxi project “Elevate” which it hopes to trial in 2020 and launch three years later, the New Zealand Herald

reports.

Auckland’s considered because the city is growing rapidly and travel time would be greatly reduced, Uber aviation product head Nikhil Goel says.

The Elevate vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can carry five people and costs between US$2 million to $3 million each, with Boeing, Embraer, Bell, Pipistrel Aircraft and Karem Aircraft making them.

Goel says Uber is meeting government and aviation officials and is seeking support to develop infrastructure for proposed “skyports” on building tops or next to transport hubs.

“Uber Air will serve trips where time-savings provide a massive potential.”

A self-piloted air taxi service is already considered by Larry Page backed Kitty Hawk, the parent company for Zephyr Airworks which is trialling VTOL aircraft “Cora” in Canterbury, New Zealand.

New Zealand was selected as the best place for the trials after various countries were checked off against a list of about 18 criteria, Zephyr Airworks chief executive Fred Reid says.

Kiwis’ “can do” attitude and “world class” aviation system were also factors, he says.

Reid told the T-Tech Conference in Auckland in March a “conforming aircraft” is expected to be ready in about a year.