Flying Taxis Off The Ground In 2-3 Years

doitvoluntarily(80)

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You might be hopping into a flying taxi for a ride sooner than you think.

There are many different firms worldwide that are actively working towards developing flying cars for the market. We've already seen amazing progress; they've already tested a variety of different models. Trying to get those flying cars to be an accepted transportation method by the state however, is what's likely going to prove to be the most difficult task in trying to complete the endeavor.

Many companies are invested in this space, such as Toyota, Kitty Hawk, eVolo with the Volocopter, Airbus, and others.

Those working behind the scenes on the Volocopter have been working at the project for several years now on their design and they hope that they are only a couple of years away from flying taxi transportation becoming a reality in the market. They want to enable people to travel to where they need to get, by being able to take off and land vertically.

Another firm working toward similar goals, who've raised tens of millions in funding, is Germany-based startup known as Lilium. They have been credited with designing the world's very first all-electric VTOL jet (see video below).

What many believe might be a few decades away, could only be a few short years away from now.

It might not be that long before there are some areas in the world that move to embrace this transportation method in the market. Imagine being able to travel 70km+ within 15 minutes or so by flying in one of these; being able to skip all the traffic.

A number of individuals involved with these projects recently spoke at a panel this month,TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin, and they shared their thoughts on when we might expect to see the flying car option come to market.

The CEO of Volocopter, Alex Zosel, said we aren't that far away now and that the first commercial application will likely be a point-to-point solution that is located over a bottleneck somewhere that there is a lot of traffic congestion, perhaps it will be over a river etc. And the flying taxis will be able to shuttle people efficiently from one area to another.

Whether it's Toyota with their flying car at the Olympics, Uber getting its imagined flying taxi network off the ground, or Dubai or Singapore with their plans for flying taxi networks etc, it's getting closer to reality and could only be a few years away before this will be a viable transportation option for many.

Pics:
eVolo via Futurism

Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/flying-cars-companies-2020-2017-6/#the-vtol-is-powered-by-six-batteries-allowing-for-just-17-minutes-of-flight-it-can-re-charge-in-40-minutes-using-a-fast-charger-8
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/flying-taxis-get-a-usd30-million-boost
http://aviationweek.com/awincommercial/lindbergh-cruises-electric-vtol-air-taxi-market
https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/05/volocopter-expect-our-flying-taxis-running-for-real-in-two-to-three-years/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/05/lilium-raises-90m/
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/singapore-looks-to-implement-flying-taxi-system
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/26/16365614/dubai-testing-uncrewed-two-person-flying-taxis-volocopter
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5148473/Volocopter-says-flying-taxi-service-2020.html