Uber Air has revealed six Skyport designs – new innovations that are part of the company’s plans to launch a fleet of flying taxis for the public by 2023. Samuel Ballard reports
Six firms submitted designs to Uber Air, which was looking for solutions for take-off and landing ports for its electric flying cars, which will be capable of vertical take-offs and landings (the vehicles are known as “eVTOLs”). The designs were revealed at Uber’s Elevate summit in LA, in June.
“While Uber Air might feel like a far away dream, it’s closer than you think and urban infrastructure has to start to evolve now to keep up,” said John Badalamenti, Uber’s head of design for advanced programmes and aviation.
“We’re excited to have collaborated with leading firms to imagine how physical Skyports would work at scale and how we can best design spaces that are quiet, environmentally conscious and create natural pockets of activity for the transportation of the future,” he added.
Each of the skyports would be capable of handling around 1,000 landings every hour.
The Corgan design would be capable of being integrated into existing city infrastructure, such as on top of buildings.
“Based on a pragmatic and research-driven approach, our concept delivers to Uber a modular, extensible and sustainable solution that supports their vision for the future of intra-urban transportation.”