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Uber Unveils Plans to Demo Flying Cars by 2020

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sanman

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Uber has announced that it will be testing flying cars in 3 years

Uber teams with Dallas, Dubai to demo flying cars by 2020 - Apr. 25, 2017

Uber, not satisfied with giving customers rides on land, is now looking to the skies.

The tech company announced Tuesday at its Elevate Summit that it has struck partnerships with the cities of Dallas and Dubai to demonstrate a network of flying cars by 2020. Uber also announced a handful of partnerships with aviation companies to develop and deliver a flying car.

Uber believes that investing in flying cars is essential to protecting its business, and envisions full-scale operations of a flying car network launching in 2023.
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I dunno - at this rate, you'll soon be able to order a ride on a spaceship through Uber. Wait - nobody tell him I said that, or he'll make another announcement.
 
Yeah, not gonna happen.
 
Demo as in demonstrate or demo as in demolish?

:2wave:
 
I will believe it when I see it. This is just an announcement.
 
How many ****in people with commercial pilot's licenses they think are gonna work for what they pay?
 
Beaudreaux said:
Can you imagine? Driving on the road is already dangerous with all the idiots out there, but to give them something that frigging flies? NFW.
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Yep. If the day ever comes that the average person has a "flying car" you can bet they will be fully automated.
 
I have heard tons of futuristic promises since 1980s. Not buying.
 
chuckiechan said:
From what I hear Uber is circuling the drain, heading for a hard landing. I think this is a distraction to change the narrative.
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I agree. I'd like to take a bet against a 'flying car network' by 2023 that isn't just a glorified shuttle service using small planes going in and out of airports that Uber calls 'flying cars.'

I obviously don't own Uber stock but if I did this kind of stuff would cause panic for me. What they might ought to work on a little bit is making their core service profitable, first.
 
Just so you all know, different models of flying cars are coming out, even as we speak:




So flying cars may soon indeed be a thing. In my opinion, if such "air taxis" become more common, then it would indeed be better to run them all under a single Uber-style service, in order to better coordinate and track them all, thus minimizing chaos in the air, and avoiding collisions.
 
Road safety regulations requiring crash tests will require the vehicuel to be much heavier than optimal for an aircraft. Wheels need to be smaller to save weight for the plane, but larger to allow the car to drive safely at highway speeds. If using conventional IC engine you can use 1 powering wheels/propeller but props take up space and need ground clearance making car taller, reducing handling, safety. If you use turbines that is fine for the plane part but not so good for the car part, fuel consumption, maintnenance costs would be prohibitive, so you really need 2 engines but again weight penalty affects the plane part.
Etc etc...
These are pipe dreams, sure people have and will continue ot make flying cars but an actual production vehicule that will meet road and aviation safety regs will be far more expensive than buying a car and a plane and not be as good as either of them.
 
Maybe they could use airbags to provide better protection with less weight-penalty.

I want to know how well the vehicle could cope with windiness, wind sheer, turbulence, bad weather including lightning.
Perhaps it's possible that electronic control systems with AI could outperform human pilots in dealing with such issues.

Lilium is electric, so it doesn't use ICE, and maybe that's how all these air taxis will develop. But I'm wondering if electric aircraft could attract lightning, especially during landing or takeoff. Perhaps it might be better if there were designated landing sites, sort of like helipads, and they were set up to minimize lightning strikes.
 
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