The company has adapted and combined the autonomous flight guidance system from its Centaur optionally piloted aircraft, the perception and collision avoidance system from the AACUS programme, and the battery electric propulsion system from the XV-24A demonstrator. Department of Defense and other autonomous aircraft the company has developed over the years. Uber will contribute its expertise in on-demand logistics.Īurora says its eVTOL concept is derived from its XV-24A X-plane programme currently underway for the U.S. Uber also says it has started discussions with NASA and the National Air Traffic Control Association about airspace management issues. Uber announced that it was partnering with a variety of airframe specialists (Aurora Flight Sciences, Pipistrel, Bell Helicopter, Mooney and Embraer) to develop the vehicles, and the associated network of charging stations and vertiports. The timeline corresponds with the World Expo 2020 in Dubai. At a recent Uber Elevate summit event in Dallas, the company unveiled plans to deploy an initial fleet of electric-powered vehicles in Dubai and Dallas, Texas by 2020. In other words, each company will offer an app that will let customers hail rides through the other.Uber is pushing ahead with plans to develop urban transportation solutions based on vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) “flying taxis” capable of autonomous operation. When the service begins, it will dovetail with Uber’s ride-hailing service, said the Joby executive chairman, Paul Sciarra. But first, government regulators must approve the use of its aircraft, which is a cross between a plane and helicopter that takes off vertically. It hopes to start a service in at least one city by 2023. The company is trying to build an air taxi service that provides an alternative to overly crowded roadways in large urban areas. With the new investment from Uber, Joby Aviation, based in Santa Cruz, Calif., has raised over $820 million. In 2020, nearly a billion dollars have been invested in this kind of “air mobility” company, according to Pitchbook. Investments are being funneled to a select group of players, said Asad Hussain, an analyst with Pitchbook, a research firm that tracks financial activity. The deal is also an indication that the air taxi industry, which has been buoyed by enormous hype and investment over the last several years, is consolidating around a smaller group of companies. “I understand that question, but I think it misses the big, bold bets right in front of us: to become the undisputed global leaders in both Mobility and Delivery.” “I know there are questions about whether Uber has any ‘big, bold’ bets left,” the Uber chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said in an email to company employees that was viewed by The New York Times. Uber recently completed the acquisition of its competitor Postmates, allowing the company to double down on deliveries.Īir taxis, like autonomous cars, are unlikely to make a significant impact for several years, and their yearly development costs run into the tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions. Uber will also invest $75 million in Joby’s effort to build a flying taxi, while agreeing to become partners with the start-up when the flying car reaches the market.īy taking the two technology projects off the books, Uber management, under pressure to make the company profitable, is dumping initiatives that critics said were money pits while focusing on the company’s core ride-hailing service and one of the few bright spots in the pandemic: a fast-growing delivery service. Uber is handing its flying car project, Uber Elevate, to the air taxi start-up Joby Aviation, the two companies said on Tuesday. A day after Uber handed its autonomous car project to a Silicon Valley start-up, the company is doing the same with an ambitious and money-intensive effort to build flying cars.
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