US helicopter manufacturer Bell Helicopter presented a vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) with hybrid-electric propulsion for five passengers at the CES 2019 under the name Bell Nexus. Bell has been cooperating with Uber for their planned flying cab since 2017.
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Engineers from Rolls-Royce and their partners have set themselves the goal of developing the world’s fastest electric aircraft as part of the ACCEL (Accelerating the Electrification of Flight) project. The model is expected to reach 480 km/hand take off for the first time in 2020.
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Researchers from the University of Illinois created a flight-performance simulator in order to model potential fuel savings for two hybrid systems for airplanes. The simulations include take off, climb, cruise, descent, and landing.
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This hybrid of a ship and an airplane Egan Airships presents also includes a few drone and helicopter elements. The result is a VTOL called Plimp, which can fly with helium, but also bears a hybrid drive.
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The German ADAC Luftrettung, that is the air rescue service, is planning to test manned electric multi-copters as rescue vehicles in two states in Germany, namely Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate. Volocopter’s electric VTOL will be used for the pilot.
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Airbus, Audi and their subsidiary Italdesign launched a model of their flying electric car Pop.Up Next. The concept is a hybrid of a drone and a cab that popped up in 2017 for the first time. In Amsterdam the team shows a working 1:4 model.
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Boeing spin-off Aurora Flight Sciences launches an autonomous lightweight airplane called Odysseus. Thanks to advanced solar cells that deliver 250 watts, the solar plane can fly “practically indefinitely” at high altitudes and will take off for the first time in spring 2019.
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The University of Nottingham and Air Race E have announced a collaboration to develop the first electric race aircraft. A prototype is in the making and will use an existing petrol-powered plane as base. The racing series will see pilots fly just above the ground at highest speeds from 2020.
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Flying from London to Amsterdam with zero emission? You may not have to wait much longer, at least if the cooperation of EasyJet and Wright Electric continues to progress at lightning speed. The British airline aims to launch an electric aircraft next year.
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The German aviation startup Volocopter is planning test flights in the centre of Singapore for the second half of 2019. The series of tests will focus on urban flight conditions and will validate the use of an electric aircraft in an urban environment. The next step will then be public demonstration flights.
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Kitty Hawk subsidiary Zephyr Airworks has signed a cooperation agreement with Air New Zealand as both partners want to work on setting up an air taxi service with self-flying electric aircrafts. We remember: About half a year ago, Kitty Hawk unveiled its electrically powered autonomous air taxi Cora.
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Terrafugia is taking pre-orders for their hybrid plane that mixes two worlds in every sense. The Transition is said to switch from road to air operation in less than a minute and moves from partially electric driving to conventional flying.
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The Singaporean company HES Energy System has presented plans for a hydrogen-electric passenger plane named Element One. The plane will be capable of carrying four passengers on stretches from 500 km to 5,000 km. The first prototype is expected in 2025.
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Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace is the latest contender in the race to launch flying cabs for urbanites. Their electric VTOL is to be fit to carry passengers on short, inter-city flights within the next four years and a first prototype underwent testing.
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The Japanese government is working on founding an industry consortium to realise electrified flying car technology. A total of 21 companies are said to be involved, including Uber, Airbus and Boeing.
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The German center for aerospace (DLR) has lauded the winners of the competition they organized in cooperation with NASA for design ideas regarding future flight technology. The winners were a team from the technical university in Munich.
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After a small electric plane was tested by the Slovenian manufacturer Pipistrel in Norway, it now took to the skies again in Finland for another test flight. This time the Pipistrel Alpha Electro took off from the Helsinki-Malmi airport.
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Terrafugia, a flying car developer owned by Geely, has announced that they will be ready to begin production on a two-seated VTOL named Transition with a hybrid system next year. Details to price and performance have not been released yet.
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Aston Martin presents the Vision Volante Concept, a study of a premium VTOL with hybrid propulsion. Whether the three-seater will ever take-off on a mass scale is uncertain. Yet Aston is on to something as Rolls-Royce also issued their version of an air taxi.
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Equator Aircraft of Norway has launched a series of test flights using their hybrid aircraft P2 Xcursion. The plane is capable to take-off both on land and water with its low float wings.
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Japan set up a new consortium called ECLAIR for Electrification Challenge for Aircraft – electric planes in other words. Members include the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as well as industrial heavyweights from Mitsubishi over Kawasaki to Subaru.
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Audi homebase Ingolstadt is to become a first testbed for VTOLs jointly developed with Airbus. Their Urban Air Mobility project is part of a European initiative that includes other cities such as Geneva or Hamburg.
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In Oslo an electric mini-plane made by Slowenian manufacturer Pipistrel took off for a short test flight with the Norwegian minister for transport Ketil Solvik-Olse. The Alpha Electro G2 aircraft was piloted by Dag Falk-Peterson, head of the state-owned company Avinor, which operates Norwegian airports.
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Frankfurt Airport (FRA) operates an extensive electrification strategy. As it is Lufthansa’s home base, the airline complements the airport’s efforts and has turned to Sweden’s Kalmar to order their 700 kW eTug that can tow very large jets emissionfree.
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The ride-share company Uber is working on the development of electric air taxis and announced their first research and development center outside of the USA, which will open in Paris in Fall this year.
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The US startup Zunum, which is supported by Boeing, has found its first customer for the twelve-seated hybrid aircraft: The California-based charter company JetSuite will purchase up to 100 of the hybrid aircraft.
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Uber has brought their latest flying cab design to their second annual Elevate conference in Los Angeles. The ride hail company hopes to be using their drone-like “flying car” for personal taxi transport as of 2023.
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Bye Aerospace, or better, Hi electric flying, as the start-up’s Sun Flyer 2 has successfully managed its maiden flight. The two-seater electric plane runs on Li-ion batteries by LG Chem and is said to be capable to stay airborne for up to 3.5 hours.
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German startup Volocopter presents infrastructure for its electric flying cab service in the making. It consists of so-called Volo-Ports leading to Volo-Hubs, designed to shuttle thousands of passengers through each day. Volocopter wants to launch the first within 10 years.
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US American Wright Electric has found a new partner for its dream of electric short haul flights. Dubai’s Jetex entered a partnership agreement that will see the two companies collaborate on producing the first electric aircraft for the MENA region.
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