Future of Personal Air Mobility
Urban eVTOL's Hypercar For the Skies
Source: Urban eVTOL Leo on Left
The Unique Leo Coupe
Urban eVTOL, a new US startup company based in Indiana, has created its first flying car concept and it is an extraordinary look at the future of travel, The Leo Coupe has 16 electric ducted fans for vertical takeoff lift, landings and forward flight. The concept vehicle is designed for top speeds of 250 mph and a range of 300 miles or about one hour & fifteen minutes worth of flying time on a single charge. The Indiana based company and Leo are the creation of award winning electric propulsion & eVTOL expert Pete Bitar and award winning automotive designer Carlos Salaff. Leo is an all electric, jet turbine propelled mix of aircraft and hypercar that the inventors call "an automobile for the skies". They believe the world is starting a transition from personal ground travel to personal air mobility vehicles. This is a personal flying machine for commuting, 1st responder rescues, business uses and much more. Urban eVTOL has won a major award from NASA for its vision of the future of flying. It is also receiving funding from the US Defense Department's DARPA , the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, for development of its Leo technology.
Highly Advanced eVTOL, Semi-Autonomous Flying Technology
Leo is a 3-passenger vehicle that is 10 feet x 20 feet and fits into a garage. The exterior is a double box-winged design that can curl under the car's front and over the back when flying forward at high speeds for aerodynamic efficiency. The wings are small to support high air speeds and efficient flying. There are airbags and a ballistic parachute in the event of any flying problems. The body of the vehicle has high visibility windows and a transparent floor to maximize visibility for the pilot and the passengers. The pilot's seat hangs from the ceiling to allow the pilot to turnaround and talk with the passengers when the vehicle is on autopilot. The vehicle is designed to be semi-autonomous.
Jet Pack Tech Based
The breakthrough technology behind Leo is a revolutionary electric jet pack design using clusters of electrical jets for lift. This is the foundation of the Leo Coupe and it has been successfully proven in manned tethered flights. DARPA has specifically contracted with Urban eVTOL to develop this compact, shrouded and redundant propulsion system. Again, Leo uses 16, 10 kH lift fans with banks of three in front and 5 in the rear. A separate system pushes it into flight forward from the rear. The vehicle runs on a 66 kWh battery system and the eVTOL looks to have tremendous potential.
Next Steps
The Urban team has successfully tested the forward thrusters and vertical thrusters to guarantee the forward speed is there that the Leo Coupe will need for take off and successful flying. The landing gear uses the base of the wings to reduce the weight and complexity of the aircraft. The next steps are building a "flying frame" prototype and doing testing in 2022. The company believes they can keep the price of the vehicle under $290,000. This vehicle is a fascinating look at the future of personal travel vehicles that are just on the horizon of travel. For a look at Edward Kane's new book "The Future of Flying", go to https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B093J89VF5&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_26FDRS0NZ4WA4J7YHAXY I co-authored the book with Ed.
Comments
Post a Comment