In a bid to prove that nothing can stop the next tech wave, this revolutionary flying taxi from China is heading to the extreme cold for rigorous testing.
Many EVs have struggled depending on the weather.
But the $30,000 cars are nothing on the expenditure of the EH216-S, an electric VTOL aircraft that is set to be the first public flying taxi.
To prove that this futuristic machine can handle the worst that Mother Nature can throw, it’s being sent off to the extreme cold.
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Flying taxi from China is being run through arctic testing conditions
EHang’s EH216-S is the first certified passenger-carrying eVTOL in the world.
Made in China, the pilotless vehicle is taking over from the grounded Tesla Robotaxi as a guardian to take people on inter-city trips without the need to chat to the driver.
Of course, this aircraft also cuts out traffic.
After completing its first flight with passengers last year, the flying taxi is entering glacial conditions at a site built specifically for this type of chilly testing.
The ‘Low-Altitude Intelligent Connected Cold-Region Testing Site’, currently being built in Changchun, will see the aircraft working in the extreme cold.
The tests will ascertain whether it can maintain its flying and charging capabilities.
If it can operate better than EVs in northern US states and Canada, then we might be onto a winner.
At the moment, the flying taxi isn’t carrying passengers. But in 10 years’ time, it’s set to be a frequent courier of people from skyscraper to skyscraper.
Its use currently is to serve as an urban emergency response vehicle and a low-altitude camera.
How close are we to having flying cars be ‘the norm’?
Aircraft like the EHang EH216-S aren’t just being developed in China.
Beta Technologies in our very own Vermont is just one of many companies successfully creating eVTOLs that intend to be landmark passenger carriers.
Testing has been ongoing in New York for quite some time, with another vehicle from Archer Aviation joining Beta’s electric plane in making trips throughout the Big Apple.
However, we’re still an age away from seeing these vehicles on the public market. Currently, they can only operate on usual aviation routes until air traffic control for them is in place.
Oh, and they cost a fortune to make. In our lifetime, it’s likely these will only be used by the mega-rich.
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