Boeing Going Big into Air Taxis
Aerospace Giant Invests a Further $450 Million in 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
Comments
Post a Comment