Well now, this is getting close to being a useful flying car. It can fit in a normal parking space (with the propellers folded), charge in two hours and fly for twenty minutes. Cruises at 300m altitude at a top speed of 60 mph (my education has left me with a strange preference for mixing imperial and metric units). If even six of the eight propellers are lost, it can still land (OK, crash) relatively safely. The user doesn't have to do anything except tell it where to go. The company video is rather impressive too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vGd1Oy7Cw0
Of course it's still hopelessly expensive (>$200,000) but then it's a prototype. Nothing is said about how the autopilot system actually works - how does it avoid obstacles ? How would it deal with lots of other Ehang 184's flying about ?
But even if it didn't fly, it still looks ten times cooler than Google's self-driving car.
Via Sakari Maaranen.
Originally shared by Phys.org
Chinese drone maker unveils human-carrying drone - Chinese drone maker Ehang Inc. on Wednesday unveiled what it calls the world's first drone capable of carrying a human passenger.
http://ow.ly/39NyC0
i want this in case of a zombie apocalypse!
ReplyDeleteSo a maximum range of 120 miles if no wind, and a 2 hour charge. It is a good start, but needs more range.
ReplyDeleteJames Graham 60 mph for 20 minutes is a maximum range of 20 miles, but that's still useful for hopping about in a city to avoid traffic. In the European market it would even be good for a half-day jaunt to the next town over. Not so useful in America, and useless for any kind of long-distance journeys. And of course the price needs to drop by a factor of ten.
ReplyDeleteIf it works as advertised it'd be a great way of getting to and from work (where one can guarantee it will be fully charged for the next trip), but to really replace the car it would definitely need more range.
It has been a long day, brain is not in gear. Pretty sure that this will never see the air in Europe, but it is a good thing for the future.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I doubt we'll ever actually see this one on sale commercially. But the prospect of a flying car looks a lot more likely to actually be a thing in the not-too-distant future.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting if long promised flying cars ('64 World's Fair) arise out of the new domain of drones, rather than from the preexisting domains of planes and automobiles. That makes me wonder if another undelivered promise of universal spaceflight will ultimately arise from a still yet to be conceived domain.
ReplyDeleteI can see this kind of vehicle replacing/complementing ground cars for a taxi/on-demand car fleet in big European cities.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you live 25 miles away, you will need to stop somewhere and charge up:-D
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