Mobile app company Uber is researching the plausibility of using vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft to fly its customers around cities, and according to Uber’s production chief, Jeff Holden, the technology could be available within the next 10 years.
Holden was at a conference in Nantucket and told Recode in an onstage interview that the ride-sharing company was seriously looking at using VTOl for short-haul flying taxis in cities.
Holden said that unlike typical helicopters, the VTOLs Uber envisions might have multiple rotors and even fixed wings. He added that in the future, the VTOLs would use batteries for power and be a lot quieter, and possibly become autonomous.
Besides changing the way we get around cities, VTOLs would change the way we live and work, making our schedules more efficient and reducing congestion on our streets. Holden said Uber wants to offer customers “as many options as possible to move around,” adding, “VTOL is another way to do that.”
In fact, Amazon, Holden’s former workplace, has also been looking at new drone technology recently. Breitbart says that in July, Amazon announced they were teaming up with the U.K. government to begin testing package delivery drones in suburban and rural areas.
Paul Misener, Amazon’s Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Communications said, “This announcement strengthens our partnership with the U.K. and brings Amazon closer to our goal of using drones to safely deliver parcels in 30 minutes to customers in the U.K. and elsewhere around the world.”
Recode also points out that a number of other companies, such as Airbus, are developing passenger drones.
Then, there is Ehang of China. The company revealed its Ehang 184 recently, a single-passenger drone that has a battery life of 23 hours. You can scoop it up for $300,000 sometime later this year.
