Hot Air Taxi Wisk Aero & Boeing

 Aerospace Giant Invests a Further $450 Million in Wisk Aero

                                        Source:  Wisk Aero

Autonomous Air Taxi Travel

Silicon Valley, California-based air taxi startup Wisk Aero has raised $450 million from Boeing to build an air taxi flee, capable of 10 million flights per year.  Wisk has developed an electric, vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle that is capable of autonomous, pilot-less flying and can carry 2 passengers.  Wisk Aero is owned by Boeing and Google co-founder Larry Page's flying car company Kitty Hawk.  There are more than a dozen, major flying car companies globally.  But what distinguishes Wisk is its focus on autonomous flying vehicles.  The company says that autonomous functionality is being built into every aspect of the design and development of its 5th-generation Wisk Cora eVTOL.

Cora Tech Specs

Boeing says Cora will be the first autonomous, passenger air taxi certified for flying in the US.  Certification is targeted for 2028.  That will be later than some piloted air taxis that hope to be certified and go into service in 2024.  Wisk says their certification will be worth the wait because of the autonomous nature of the eVTOL.  Some vital data on Cora:

• takes off and lands like a helicopter
• all electric and zero emissions
• powered by 12, independent lift fans
• autonomously flown by self-flying software
• faster alternative to cars
• current speeds up to 100 mph
• current range up to 25 miles
• multiple redundant systems to backup any important component failing
• backup parachute system

Next Steps

 

Five generations of Cora's have successfully completed 1500 flight tests. Generation 6 Cora will go through further flight testing and development.  Within five years of certification in 2028, Wisk expects to be offering 14 million annual flights to 40 million passengers in 20 US cities.  Wisk has the potential to be a major force in the evolving future of personal air mobility. At the moment, it appears to be the air taxi company with the most solid funding.