Whether you call them eVTOLs, ‘flying cars’ or air taxis, these all-electric, vertical take-off-and-landing passenger vehicles promise to make George Jetson’s commute a reality—if only their manufacturers can figure out where to land them
The companies developing electric vertical takeoff-and-landing vehicles all promise that their aircraft will drastically slash travel times by flying above traffic. But to fulfill that promise, their take-off and landing sites – or vertiports – will have to be where passengers need them. WSJ’s George Downs explores their strategies and why it matters.
Hundreds of companies, new ones and legacy aviation players alike, are working on such vehicles—also called air taxis or eVTOLs . Five such startups have gone public in the past 12 months. They are trying to shape a near future in which taking a flying cab is an economically viable alternative to taking a terrestrial one.
It’s easy to write this article because we are at the dawn of a new industry and there is a lot of work to be done. When the Wright Brothers invented the airplane there were no airports.