Flying taxi

In Singapore for Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress, Volocopter has shown off a first full-scale prototype of what it calls a VoloPort, the terminal for the flying taxi service it envisions for city centers of the future.

Porsches has joined forces with Boeing to explore the possibility of developing a premium urban air mobility vehicle.

Hyundai has joined the growing list of big-name brands in making moves into the world of flying cars, today announcing the launch of a new urban Air Mobility Division.

The team at Volocopter has sent its 18-rotor aircraft into the skies over Stuttgart as part of its first urban demonstration flight in a European city center.

The Volocopter has flown amid other traffic at an international airport for the first time.

The Volocopter has been given another makeover, resulting in a rounder, cleaner design the company says is the most powerful Volocopter yet.

​​With the backing of Google co-founder Larry Page, Kitty Hawk already has some noteworthy names attached to its flying taxi endeavors. And it's now found another in heavyweight Boeing, with the industry veteran teaming up with its fresh-faced counterpart to accelerate the age of electric aviation.

​With plans already in the pipe to lift its flying taxis into the air over Dallas and Los Angeles, Uber has now added Melbourne, Australia, to the list. The announcement marks the first pilot city outside the US for the forthcoming but highly speculative Uber Air service.

Skai some big waves last month with the launch of its long-range hydrogen-powered eVTOL air taxi prototype. In an interview with New Atlas, Skai's CTO tells us these flying commuters will cost about the same per mile as an Uber ride, and that he expects to be able to land them just about anywhere.

A new electric VTOL air taxi company came out of stealth mode today, using a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain that neatly sidesteps the energy density issue that's holding back battery-powered aircraft. Alaka'i Technologies' Skai machine has a range of up to 4 hr/400 mi and a five-passenger capacity.

Startup Volocopter will now seek to explore the possibilities around stations for its flying taxis through a newly announced partnership with Frankfurt Airport.

Before coming back down to earth with the start of this week's NAIAS, the mobility industry spent some time in bright, blue sky at CES 2019. Forget cars ready to drive home off the lot, CES was focused on vessels and systems built to shift paradigms and solve emerging transportation issues.