February 24th, 2023: Who made this prototype? Read to know details of the flying taxi.
Aero India is an aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru, India. The exhibition is organized by the Defence Exhibition Organisation, Ministry of Defence. It is the biggest air show in Asia and the theme of 2023’s Aero India is “The Runway to a Billion Opportunities.”
ePlane Company, a startup rooted from IIT-Madras showcased a prototype model of electric flying taxi in the Aero India Show held in Bengaluru.
ePlane company was founded by Pranjal Mehta and Satya Chakravarthy. In an interview they mentioned, “We got the idea to build the electric flying taxi after seeing a video on electric ground transportation.”
Important details regarding the electric flying taxi -
- The taxi itself weighs almost 200kgs and can achieve a speed up to 200 kmph while carrying 2 passengers.
- As claimed by the company, the vehicle is 10 times faster than a regular car and once it becomes fully functional, the fare of the rides will be double than a normal cab.
- The electric flying taxi is a VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft, which means it can vertically takeoff and land without the help of a runway. The vehicle can go up to 200 kms in a single charge.
- ePlane invested almost Rs 8 crore to build the vehicle. As of now, the vehicle is operated by a pilot but in the future it would be automatic.
- The taxi has four ducted fans which allows it to fly at a maximum altitude of 1500 feet.
