They can do battery electric flying cars but not battery electric street vehicles?
I really hope this tech will never become mainstream. I cannot see any practical usecase for this except for the transport of a multimillionaire. There are usecases for smaller unmanned drones, notably for transporting medicine and blood quickly. But for the transport of humans it has all the downsides of cars times 10…
What about first responders? And not every country has a well built road infrastructure. In Australia they fly doctors to remote places with planes. This could improve coverage and service through huge cost reductions per flight hour. I’m always appalled at the amount of Luddism on here whenever this particular topic comes up.
This is extremely niche. Compared to an helicopter you certainly get lower price, but you can’t transport multiple medical personnel, cannot transport the victim, cannot transport heavy medical equipment.
I am not saying this does not have a niche, but it can only become mainstream for the transport of multimillionaires
You are thinking of the early models that are in development right now. As battery technology progresses, those things will only get more powerful. And it’s not niche at all. Think of places like Greece, Scotland or the Philippines with all the islands. Providing public services to those could get radically cheaper.
I’m not convinced that there is a huge market for air taxis, but I’m hopeful that this tech could be a stepping stone to electrification of other aviation sectors.
