Almost silent air taxis are set to be as easy to use as Uber and could be in the skies by 2025
The weird and wacky new inventions just keep on coming.
Flying taxis might not just be a thing of sci-fi movies for much longer.
The first eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) Air Taxi is set to change transport as we know it as early as 2025.
The company behind the innovation is Joby Manufacturing and they plan to make booking an air taxi as 'easy as ordering an Uber,' as reported by CNET.
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These eVTOLs are designed for short flights, with a range of 100 miles.
CNET has a look at one of its first flight test vehicles which can carry one pilot and four passengers - and there's even room for luggage.
"We wanted you to be able to walk up to it and feel like it was almost a more traditional car," said Edward Stilson, special projects manager at Joby.
He added that the goal is to make the whole experience feel as 'normal' as possible.
The drone-looking aircraft has six vertical propellors. After takeoff, the internal motors rotate 90 degrees, making the propellers face forward.
This design helps save energy - using one-third less power while in forward flight - allowing the air taxi to travel three times farther than it could if it were just hovering, according to Stilson.
But these propellers also have a safety function too.
With safety being its first priority, Stilson said Joby designed the number and function of the propellers to 'allow for failure' in that if one were to malfunction or fail, 'it's likely the occupants wouldn't even notice that something turned off.'
He continued: "We have multiple flight computers, we have multiple batteries on each one of our motors. So, there's redundancy and robustness at every layer."
Inside Joby's factory, Lexy Savvides from CNET found that the process begins with a single piece of carbon fibre.
Carbon fibre is an extremely bendable material with a high strength-to-weight ratio, allowing for lighter and more durable aircraft, like this one.
The combination of carbon fibre, propellers and electric propulsion makes the air taxis much quieter than traditional aircraft.
In fact, the company did some testing alongside US space agency NASA and found that the air taxi is '100 times quieter than a traditional helicopter.'
So, what happens when these air taxis are ready for public use?
Well, as soon as the air taxis become commercially available, you'll be able to easily book a flight from the Joby app.
To make this even easier, Joby is also partnering with Delta in the US to offer air taxi services from major airports like JFK, LaGuardia and LAX.
Nevertheless, there are still some unknowns, like the cost of flights and whether the FAA will approve them in time for the 2025 rollout.
Viewers' reactions have been a mix of positivity and scepticism.
"Very interesting, thank you. This looks like it could be a possible real transport option soon, but not as a taxi, more like a short hop plane alternative," said one viewer.
"These will be great for states like Texas with multiple big cities," added another.
One more sceptical mind commented: "Not a taxi. These Giant Drones that can carry a few humans will not fix transportation for the masses. Its real goal is to be a cheaper alternative to helicopter. Still only rich people will be able to afford it."