Chicago will be the next city with a flying taxi. A well-known aviation company and an ambitious startup have proposed a joint project to solve one of the big problems of the inhabitants of the American metropolis.
Eco-friendly, quiet and competitively priced, these are Chicago-bound taxis from heaven. According to the creators, air transport should be the solution to the problem of poor communication in key areas of the city. They start from the airport.
Taxi Sky will take Chicagoans to the airport
The initiative is the result of a collaboration between renowned air carrier United Airlines and air mobility startup Archer Aviation.
Archer’s sky taxis are Electric Vertical Launch Vehicles (eVTOLs) called Midnight. Soon they will be used by travelers rushing to Chicago-O’Hare International Airport.
Usually, the almost 39-kilometer route from the city center to the airport takes about an hour for a taxi - and this is if there are not too many traffic jams. On the train it is even worse, because you have to take into account the loss of about 75 minutes.
However, there is a small port in the center reserved for helicopters only. Flying Taxi between Vertiport Chicago and O’Hare is expected to take just 10 minutes.
United Airlines initially plans only one route to the airport. However, gradually the companies want to develop the service, providing flights to more and more areas of Chicago. However, it will take some time before this happens. The launch of the service is scheduled for 2025.
Archer Midnight - what can a flying taxi do?
Midnight is also part of the outfit. The vehicle is powered by six batteries that provide power to electric motors connected to 12 rotors. The flying taxi is designed to carry four passengers at once, the fifth place is occupied by the pilot.
In the air, a huge drone develops a speed of more than 240 km / h and can fly about 160 km without recharging. However, the car is optimized for shorter “hops” from 30 to 80 kilometers.
United previously announced that it would independently acquire 200 Midnights from Archer and deploy them to the company’s operations in several US regions.
Source: Wprost
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