Important Innovations

  Dawn of Flying Taxi Services                                                 Source:  Embraer & Eve Eve Publicly Traded on NYSE This is turning out to be quite the week for Brazilian aerospace company Embraer and its eVTOL subsidiary and partner Eve.  Eve's technology is undergoing flight tests over Rio de Janeiro this week to collect data on its vertical landing and takeoff capabilities.  They're using conventional, piloted helicopters that are part of Embraer's Autonomous System project or EASy to do the testing and push forward the goal of autonomous flights.  It's another aviation landmark in the journey toward fully certified and autonomous eVTOL (electric, vertical takeoff and landing) flying taxis. Eve Goes Public Simultaneously, Eve was spun-off by Embraer this week and has just started trading on the NYSE...

XPeng's Voyager X2  Flying in Extreme Environments and at High Altitudes                                           Source: XPeng Voyager X2 All-Electric, New Way to Travel XPeng Huitan, a subsidiary of XPeng Motors, recently unveiled its 5th generation flying car at the Chengdu Motor Show in China.  Now, the automaker has revealed that the X2 is undergoing test flights in extreme weather conditions  and at high altitudes above cities in China.  The EV is actually an eVTOL, an electric vertical take off and landing vehicle.  XPeng Huitan calls it a "flying car" because it sports a lot of the design contained in the company's P7 EV sedan. Current Capabilities The X2 can operate on a full charge for 35 minutes and flies to a maximum altitude of 3,280 feet.  Top speed is 81 mph.  The current model can carry two people, has a closed c...

Uber Announces Air Taxi Test Flights in Melbourne, Australia & Deals with AT&T, Signature Source:  Uber Test Flights in Three Global Cities 2020 A lot of news from Uber today. Uber Technologies has selected Australia's second largest city, Melbourne, as the first international test site for its air taxi service.  The test flights will start in 2020 in Melbourne, along with test flights in previously announced Dallas and Los Angeles.  The test service will link central city locations with nearby airports. Commercial Launch 2023 The Uber air taxi fleet is electric powered and can be ordered on demand by customers through smartphone apps.  The fleet will have vertical takeoff, vertical landing and rapid horizontal flight.  The electric powered vehicles are part helicopter, part drone and part fixed wing aircraft with multiple small rotors.  Uber plans to provide commercial, on demand, ride-sharing air taxi service in 2023.  They al...