Uber wants to replace private vehicle ownership with the disruptive idea of ‘takeaway transport’ when we need it. While their interest is commercial, cities will sleep more peacefully at night knowing they are not clogged by lumps of metal their owners only use 5% of the time. It would be even better if the takeaway vehicles could fly through the air. Now Uber is making its own sky taxi batteries, because its ambitions are running ahead of what the battery industry can supply.
Uber Is Making Its Own Sky Taxi Batteries to Extend Flying Range
Uber intends to deliver a sky taxi service by 2023. Later, it will replace human pilots with autonomous artificial intelligence, as it may well do with Uber drivers eventually. Robotics is set to replace humans in all repetitive manual tasks, and we need to learn to adapt.
However, Uber needs a flying range of at least 60 miles for air taxis to be commercially viable. According to Sean Captain writing for BBC News, the batteries must accommodate fast charging in five-minute bursts to extend the distance of their aircraft further. Sean reports there are no storage packs currently on the market able to deliver to these specifications. Because vertical take offs and landings rob conventional batteries of their reserves.
This Represents a Departure from Uber’s Collaborative Approach
Uber’s flying wing Elevate previously relied on third party industries to deliver its technology. For example, Embraer and Bell Helicopter are developing the drone aircraft to ferry its passengers. However, Uber will no longer use the batteries these firms are able to source.
Tesla’s former “battery guru” Celina Mikolajczak told reporters, “We want to make sure that our partners have access to a pack that meets our safety, reliability, performance, and lifetime targets.” It seems that while Bell Helicopter and Embraer are up to the task of building the aircraft, they have to adapt to the reality that Uber is making its own sky taxi batteries, at least for now.
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Preview Image: Drone Transport
