There are some dreams that just never seem to end. People sick of commuting imagine all sorts of new transportation schemes while stuck in traffic. Elon Musk dreamed up the Hyperloop while trying to get to LAX during rush hour. One of the most popular fantasies is an electric air taxi that rises above it all and whisks you to your destination while looking down on all those people crawling through traffic down below.
“Our shared goal is to provide residents and visitors to the San Francisco Bay area with efficient and cost-competitive transportation in one of the most densely populated urban areas in the U.S.,” said Eve Air Mobility CEO Andre Stein. The electric air taxis have a range of up to 60 miles.
The other type of aircraft — such as those coming from Eve and Archer — have wings that help keep them in the air. That means the rotors have to do less work and therefore their range is longer — 100 kilometers or more.There are already helicopters available for well-heeled commuters, but they are far from inexpensive. An electric air taxi has many of the same advantages as an electric car — lower cost of fuel and greatly reduced maintenance.
The dream is that you open an app, an air taxi lands on your front lawn, and whisks you directly to wherever it is you want to go. The reality is quite a bit different. One has to wonder just how much time and money these services will actually save. They may work well for people arriving at the designated airports and needed a quick hop into the city, but it is unlikely a resident of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, would dash to Newark to catch an air taxi to New York City.