Airbus offers a peek at its flying taxi
Airbus offers a peek at its flying taxi
by Jon Ostrower
@CNNTech October 21, 2016: 12:36 AM ET
Battle of the flying cars
European aerospace giant Airbus has quietly lifted the
curtain on an ambitious Silicon Valley project called Vahana. It's a pilotless
passenger aircraft that aims to someday add a vertical component to your
commute.
Think of Uber-like air taxis that can beat the traffic on
Highway 101 by flying over it.
Airbus has shared few details about the aircraft, but
recently posted its first conceptual renderings on a Medium blog.
The drawings depict a craft that can take off and land
vertically. It has helicopter-like struts, and two sets of tilting wings each
with four electric motors. There's room for a passenger under a canopy that
retracts like a motorcycle helmet visor.
Airbus, a rival of American icon Boeing (BA), is best
known for its large jetliners like the double-decker A380. But it's also
pouring big money into the future, and holds an advantage that many aviation
startups with radical concepts don't have: Experience and funding.
It is developing Vahana through its A3 unit, which
formally opened this year in San Jose, the heart of California's tech
community. Airbus made an initial $150 million funding commitment for A3
(pronounced "A-cubed").
Vahana grows out of that seed funding.
"The aircraft we're building doesn't need a runway,
is self-piloted, and can automatically detect and avoid obstacles and other
aircraft," A3 chief executive Rodin Lyasoff wrote in September.
"Designed to carry a single passenger or cargo, we're aiming to make it
the first certified passenger aircraft without a pilot."
The project hopes to fly a full-size prototype by the end
of 2017 and eventually have something it can sell by 2020, Lyasoff wrote.
For sure, commercial or passenger use of such a machine
faces significant hurdles, including a lack of established standards for
electric planes and any aircraft that doesn't have pilots.
Airbus isn't the only manufacturing industry pillar to
explore new areas of mobility. Car-makers Toyota and Honda have sought to
expand into aviation. Honda delivered its first private jet in 2015 after three
decades developing new aerospace technology.
Airbus is trying to tap into a nascent, but fast-growing,
field: the use of battery-powered electric propulsion technology to enable
on-demand services.
In this case, the vision is for air taxis that use
"urban airways in a predictable and controlled manner," wrote
Lyasoff.
Airbus announced last year that one of Vahana's first
projects would be a collaboration with Uber to prove a new business model for
helicopter operators. NASA, too, is investing heavily in researching electric
propulsion and plans to fly its own design, the X-57, in 2018.
Of course, flying taxis that don't have pilots pose some
tricky safety issues. Airbus says that "sense and avoid" technology
will be used to prevent midair collisions, and a ballistic parachute would
deploy if a craft's engines malfunction.
Airbus has intentionally separated A3 from the rest of
its manufacturing operations in Europe, China and the U.S. Unlike its
buttoned-up parent, A3 has hallmarks of a Silicon Valley startup: It has a
recruiting profile on its website for "Jane Jackalope" -- a job
listing for an executive who is a "jackalope of all trades."
CNNMoney (New York)
First published October 20, 2016: 6:48 PM ET
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