Important Innovations

Uber's Major Commitment to EVs and Hybrid Vehicles For 0 To Low Emissions                                        Source:  Uber Electric Vehicles More Than 1400 Cities in North America Involved Ride sharing company Uber is expanding its electric car and hybrid vehicle ride service.  It will be offered in more than 1400 cities in North America.  The cities include Miami, New York City, Washington, DC, Houston, Tucson, Calgary and Winnipeg.  The company says drivers can rent zero emissions vehicles through their partner Avis.  The service is available in Los Angeles but it is being rolled out nationally this year. Green Goals By 2040, Uber wants all of its vehicles in its global ride sharing service to be electric.  It is also contributing through 2025 $800 million as incentives to help drivers switch to electric vehicles.  This Green Trips program includes discounts on electric vehicles bought or leased through Uber partner automakers.  Uber is clearly encouraging drivers to take gre

  Reopens to the Public in Phoenix After COVID                                                       Source:  Waymo Robo Taxis Hitting the Road Waymo's autonomous, robo taxi ride hailing service is open to the public in Phoenix.  The company has put years of autonomous driving research on the line to operate Waymo as a revenue producing business.  Waymo has a serious tech pedigree.  It is a business unit of Google's parent company Alphabet. Driving Plans With No Human Attendants Today, Waymo driverless minivans with no human attendants on board resumed operations for members of Waymo One service in Phoenix. In the spring, operations were suspended because of the COVID pandemic.  Now, within a few weeks, there will be open access for anyone who downloads the smartphone app and wants to hail a Waymo ride within a 50 square mile radius of Phoenix.  Next step will be to offer the service within a 100 square mile area of Phoenix.  The company has hopes of expanding operations beyond

Hyundai's S-A1 Air Taxi: Uber-Hyundai Partnership Source:  Hyundai at CES 2020 Your Next Taxi Ride South Korean automaker Hyundai has created a full-scale prototype air-taxi, the S-A1.  It's a VTOL 4 seater.  And in a gamechanging innovation move, they're teaming-up with the ride sharing service Uber to take this air taxi into the skies during the 2020's.  It will be part of Uber's aerial rideshare service, Uber Air.  The target date for Hyundai to start production on the flying taxi is 2028. The S-A1 was unveiled this week at the CES 2020 in Las Vegas and was cited as one of the biggest innovations of the year. Uber Air Taxi Service With the Hyundai S-A1, Uber Air will work like Uber cars with the added value of an air taxi over traffic. With a push of a button on your phone, a car will pick you up.  It will take you to a skyport where a vertical air mobile vehicle will fly you to your next destination.  You'll then hop into a car to your final dest

Uber Announces Air Taxi Test Flights in Melbourne, Australia & Deals with AT&T, Signature Source:  Uber Test Flights in Three Global Cities 2020 A lot of news from Uber today. Uber Technologies has selected Australia's second largest city, Melbourne, as the first international test site for its air taxi service.  The test flights will start in 2020 in Melbourne, along with test flights in previously announced Dallas and Los Angeles.  The test service will link central city locations with nearby airports. Commercial Launch 2023 The Uber air taxi fleet is electric powered and can be ordered on demand by customers through smartphone apps.  The fleet will have vertical takeoff, vertical landing and rapid horizontal flight.  The electric powered vehicles are part helicopter, part drone and part fixed wing aircraft with multiple small rotors.  Uber plans to provide commercial, on demand, ride-sharing air taxi service in 2023.  They also are exploring more location

Vienna Style Commuting Courtesy:  EHang - Vienna Test Flight First Flight It looks like a helicopter at first glance.  But it's a lot more than that.  This is the first demonstration of this pilotless air taxi prototype that just successfully took off in Vienna, Austria.  The Austrian and Chinese developers say it's ready for mass production and commuter service.  The EHang 216 is at the forefront of autonomous air taxis readying for takeoff. Autonomous Flying It's the creation of  Austrian aerospace company FACC (now owned by Chinese aerospace group AVIC) and the Chinese drone maker company  EHang. It's a European first for them.  The vehicle circled in the air and landed safely after a few minutes of flying above a soccer stadium. Rigorously Tested and Ready for Flying This is a slim drone with 16 propellers.  It can seat two passengers, fly up to 90 mph for a half hour.  And, it can travel 50 to 70 kilometers depending on the payload.  The Austrian-Chi

Bell's Extraordinary Flying Taxi Bell Nexus Bell Helicopter just unveiled a fully complete model of a functional air taxi VTOL, vertical takeoff and landing vehicle.  They have partnered with the ride sharing company Uber on this. It's powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system and uses 6 tilting duct fans for takeoff.  It is extraordinary aviation innovation with demonstration flights planned for 2020.  For a news blog on this, go to Important Innovations Collection: Bell's Air Taxi Unveiled : Bell Nexus:  In a Flying Class of Its Own Source:  Bell Helicopter New Meaning to Hailing a Flying Taxi Bell has unveiled an air tax...