Rolls-Royce wants to build a flying taxi
And I want to ride in that taxi.
First Back to the Future promised us flying cars. Then the future happened and there were no flying cars. That was disappointing.
Then we spent a long time convincing one another they were impractical, pointless and a big ol' fat waste of money.
Now flying cars are happening again? Make up your mind! I can't handle all this uncertainty. Let's add it all up, shall we?
We have an Airbus and Audi partnership, currently trying to build a city car/flying taxi concept. We have Uber building a flying taxi hub in Paris. Then we have Kitty Hawk, a secret company founded by Google co-founder Larry Page -- it's working on a project called Cora. Yes, it's another flying taxi.
But guess who else is joining the flying taxi race... Rolls-Royce.
Not the Rolls-Royce of luxury cars fame, Rolls Royce the engine company, that split from the car company decades ago.
That Rolls-Royce is looking to get into the flying taxi game and has drawn up plans to create an electric vehicle that could potentially reach speeds of 400 kilometres per hour (around 250 miles per hour). Rolls-Royce believes it could be ready to launch as early as the next decade, a timeline that's consistent with many of its potential competitors.
Rob Watson, head of Rolls-Royce's electric team, believes the company is "placed well to play a leading role in the emerging world of personal air mobility."
"We believe that given the work we are doing today to develop hybrid electric propulsion capabilities," said Rolls-Royce, as reported by the BBC, "this model could be available by the early to mid 2020s, provided that a viable commercial model for its introduction can be created."
Where we're going we don't need roads.
Fight the Power: Take a look at who's transforming the way we think about energy.
'Hello, humans': Google's Duplex could make Assistant the most lifelike AI yet.