Important Innovations

  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 ta

AutoFlight's    eVTOL Successfully Take-offs, Lands, Transitions to Forward Flight                                                  Source: AutoFlight Chinese Company Seeks Certification to Fly Passengers Shanghai-based aviation company AutoFlight has unveiled a very impressive electric Vertical Take Off & Landing (eVTOL) air taxi.  It's called Prosperity 1.  This new eVTOL has successfully demonstrated vertical takeoffs, the transition to rear propulsion for forward flight and switching back to its top propellers for vertical landings.  It is a significant contender in the rapidly accelerating world of flying taxis.  AutoFlight has a portfolio of successfully launched planes and several eVTOLs, including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in mass production - the autonomous V50 White Shark. Tech Specs Prosperity 1 is autonomous, electric and very recently demonstrated its technical capabilities during a test flight in China.  It flew at speeds of 123 mph and hit an altitude

Honda eVTOLs For City Commuting                                                                      Source:  Honda's eVTOL Next G Urban Air Mobility Honda is developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) flying taxi to make "mobility in the sky more accessible to people."  Just using electricity, it can travel 100 miles.  When combined with a turbine engine, the hybrid electric eVTOL can travel 400 miles.  Honda recently disclosed that it is going full throttle into the flying taxi business.  Their eVTOL is specifically designed for intra-city and city to city travel, which Honda believes is about to grow significantly. In a presentation, Honda used the example of a businessperson on Cape Cod using the eVTOL to quickly and smoothly travel from the Cape to New York City and back within a day. Tech Specs The eVTOL uses 8, small propellers to get lift and then deploys 3 pusher props and its wings to fly forwards.  The power to fly is generated by a hyb

  High Speed Air/Water Travel Commute                                        Source:  Regent Seaglider Regent Seaglider Is New Electric Travel Tech Would you love to get from Boston to Nantucket, or from any major city to a beautiful nearby coastal location, in record time?  There's a new electric aircraft, that's part plane and boat, that can do it.  It's called the Regent Seaglider.  The EV taxis across the water from a dock and then takes off and lands on open water, and then taxis back to the dock to discharge passengers.  This EV is similar to a Seaplane but it is much more technologically sophisticated.  The Seaglider is the creation of two MIT aerospace engineers, Billy Thalheimer and Mike Klinker who both worked at Aurora Flight Services and Boeing , before founding their Boston based startup Regent. Regent Seaglider now has nearly $500 million in orders for this unique EV and billionaire Mark Cuban as a founding backer.  The Seaglider is specifically designed for f

SONDORS Metacycle                                                                      Source:  SONDORS Metacycle City & Highway Riding SONDORS Metacycle is a new form of personal mobility and it brakes the mold of traditional motorcycles.  The bike is an all electric motorbike that can hit speeds up to 80 mph.  The vehicle is designed for urban commuting and is roadworthy for highways.  For a motorcycle it is relatively inexpensive.  It's priced at $5,000.  By contrast, Harley Davidson's electric Live Wire is priced at $29,799.  Both are categorized as electric commuting bikes.  The Metacycle is considered gamechanging travel technology. SONDORS is headquartered in Malibu, CA  It claims to have sold 100,000 e-bikes since 2015 and says it is now the largest e-bike distributor in the US. Tech Specs The Metacycle has a rear mounted, hub electric motor that provides 8 Kw nominal and 14.5 K peak.  The removeable 4,000 Wh battery has a range of 80 miles.  It can be charged at ho

  New, Urban Electric Commuting                                       Source:  Serial 1 Cycle Company New Form of Travel Harley Davidson's spinoff company Serial 1 Cycle Company has just introduced four new e-bike models.  There are three new models of the Rush/Cty speed e-bike priced from $4,399 to $4,999 and one new model of the $3,399 Mosh/City e-bike.  These bikes are getting rave reviews for innovation, styling and smooth riding.  Serial 1 is an independent electric bike brand, but Harley Davidson holds a minority stake in the company. Many former Harley engineers work there.  Serial 1 is the beneficiary of Harley Davidson's decades of top-of-the-line motorcycle technology. Competitive Bike Lanes E-bikes are exploding in popularity as commuters look to avoid pubic transit and exposure to COVID by doing solo urban commutes.  The trend is so strong that Ford and Jeep have introduced their own e-bike brands.  The partnership with Harley gives Serial 1 some big advantages.  Se

  COVID Safer Micro-Mobility                                               Source:  London e-Scooter One Problem:  They're Not Legal in the UK By the thousands, Londoners are abandoning the Tube, London's underground subway system, and hopping onto e-scooters for their daily commutes.  They are doing so to avoid the crowds on public transit and the possibility of being infected by COVID-19.  But, there is one big problem.  In the UK, e-scooters are not legal on public roads, on pavements, on cycle lanes and in pedestrian only areas.  E-scooter experts are calling upon the UK government to regulate them for safe and legal riding. UK & e-Scooter Regulations E-scooters typically cost about $400.00 and have top speeds of 15 mph.  They can be legally used in the UK and London only if they are part of a testing trial and are rented.  In London, trials won't start until the spring of 2021.  In other parts of the UK, testing is underway to determine how safe they are on streets

Britain and France Getting on Board Source:  Google Biking to Work, Avoiding Pubic Transit There is a significant trend from the global pandemic: individual personal mobility is far preferable to public transportation. As a result, bikes are getting a big boost in Europe as governments search for means to get people safely to work without crowded buses, trains and subways.  As the lock-downs ease and people start returning to their places of work, many will be doing a cycling commute. Britain and France Britain has just rolled out a $308 million emergency active travel fund to get commuters to cycle to work.  France is investing $22 million to develop and subsidize cycle commuting.  Both countries are also installing temporary bike lanes to facilitate the cyclists. Amsterdam Many cities in northern Europe, like Amsterdam, have a long history of travel by bikes and they have the infrastructure in place to support it.  In the Netherlands, 27% of commuting is done by bike.