Uber Elevate

The future eVTOL air taxi market could be in for quite a shake-up, with reports coming in that Uber has sold its Elevate division to airframe manufacturer Joby Aviation. Uber Elevate was expected to be a major player in the air taxi market.

Hyundai has used the grand platform of CES 2020 to unveil its take on the future of urban mobility. At the heart of its plans is its S-A1, an electric flying taxi developed with Uber.

​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.

As it forges ahead with plans for UberAir, Uber has enlisted the services of engineers from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) to develop the new rotor technologies to get the airborne ride-share service off the ground.

Hot on the feels of its Uber Elevate conference where a raft of flying taxi vehicle and Skyport concepts came to light, Uber has now announced it will build a new research center in France that, at least initially, will be devoted to the cause.​

​One of the more fanciful aspects of Uber’s flying taxi service is the concept of Skyports, which would be used as a base for electric aircraft to stay charged up and for passengers to hop on and off. Here’s a look at six concepts dreamt up by architects collaborating with Uber on the idea.