Cars can become taxis, freight rates are 1USD / km

The idea of ​​flying cars is being turned into a reality by technology firms, with the creation of devices that can act as cars, but are willing to take off like an airplane in an emergency situation or traffic jam, possibly used to make cheap taxis according to Uber model.

Unmanned passenger aircraft

At the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, a focus of the technology industry is the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called The 184 of Ehang, China. This name means carrying 1 passenger, 8 propulsion engines and 4 propellers.

It concretized Ehang's ambition - becoming the first unit to build unmanned passenger aircraft. The 184 is designed to fly short and medium routes - about 16km, at a speed of about 60 miles per hour.

George Yan - co-founder of Ehang - claims The 184 feels "10 times more than Ferrari". All the passengers have to do is enter the destination information into an application on the smartphone. The application will choose the optimal route, avoid colliding with other UAVs. The 184 take off and landed vertically so there's no need for a runway. According to Ehang, if applied in bulk, it will help reduce traffic jams and traffic accidents.

The term "flying cars" comes from science fiction and is often used by researchers with satirical meaning. It is possible to call this vehicle as an airplane that can run on the road, a hybrid flight system, and a taxi. The common point between them is that they can act like cars, but are willing to take off like an airplane in an emergency situation or traffic jam.

Ehang's The 184.(Photo: Gearbrain).

The design of flying cars is not simply a hybrid of cars and aircraft - two vehicles have a big difference in load, load distribution and aerodynamics - a problem with researchers. The movement on the road is quite difficult because flying cars have a large width, easy to lose balance when the wind is strong. The wings often cover the driver's view, much like the blind spot of a car but much worse. However, problems are gradually being resolved.

A new Toyota invention designed the roof top system, which could be folded to improve visibility and size.

Taxi flying according to Uber model

Cars can be dozens of times more expensive than traditional cars. A recent NASA study shows that owning a taxi is not economically viable considering the amount of energy consumed and the time saved, even taking into account the technologies that will be available in the future. .

However, according to Roger Lanctot - Strategy Analytics analyst, economically, it is possible to consider flying cars as a niche market. Economic factors may be secondary to special purposes such as border control. Government agencies and a number of consumers are still willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars if needed.

"Occasionally, the purchased item does not necessarily have to be optimal in terms of economic benefits" - Carl Dietrich - CEO of Terrafugia, a car maker said.

Also according to NASA, in the future, we can go "taxi flight" with 3 times the speed of a traditional taxi, but the price is only with Uber: 1USD / km . In order to make cheap taxis a reality, we need a kind of vehicle that can take off and land vertically, run by DEP engine - the engine is being researched by NASA's LEAPTech team.

This model will need Uber's connectivity technology to ensure that each taxi can fly 1,500 hours a year. In addition, the involvement of private technology firms will be a key point.