Vertical take-off and landing (VTOLs) aircraft are taking off, electric airplanes (e-planes) are going further and further through the sky, and a new Pipistrel deal tells us the electric Alpha Electro will be built and sold in the biggest electric vehicle market of all — China.
While some people may have their doubts as to whether or not flying cars will ever truly get off the ground, at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2017 some big names have thrown their weight behind the concept as the future of transportation.
Though cars get most of the attention, batteries will participate in our cleantech energy transition on land, in the air and by sea. And in today’s Cleantech Talk, we cover them all. It’s something of a “double-cheeseburger” episode, in that we stretched ourselves around four topics instead of the usual two. Let us know in the comments if you liked the format, and if you have a few minutes, please leave us an iTunes review to make it easier for like-minded folks to find us!
In addition to being the year of the Tesla Model 3, 2017 is turning out to be a major year for flying aircraft that are also electric and autonomous. Soaring cars, driving saucers, flying pontoons-bikes, and electric airplanes have broken into the news regularly. Another electric airplane contender from EViation is moving its product past regulations and certifications and hopes to be in active commercial service by 2021, with a prototype next year.
And another vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft takes to the sky, this time it was the first successful test flight of the Lilium Electric VTOL Taxi.
Have you ever dreamt of “driving” a flying car just like in Back to the Future? Well, this might happen in real life sooner than you ever expected. But, rather than flying cars, the technology that is being developed today looks more like human-sized drones.
