"Air taxis" are here! Can we take a flying taxi when we go out in the future?

In Shanghai, I get off work at 6pm and go to Yangcheng Lake to eat hairy crabs at 7pm. This wonderful fantasy of a foodie can actually become a reality!

Recently, the first 2-ton eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle) M1 independently developed by my country successfully completed its test flight in Shanghai. The aircraft has achieved localization in the three core links of electric system, flight control system and composite materials, with a maximum load of 500 kg, can carry 5 people, a cruising speed of 200 km/h, and a designed range of 250 km.

Image source: Xinhuanet official Weibo

Air taxi technology: a vital component of future urban transportation

In many science fiction movies, we can always see aerial vehicles flying in the city sky. At the same time, as urban traffic congestion becomes increasingly serious, the limitations of traditional transportation methods become more and more obvious. The air taxi technology, with its convenience, speed and environmental protection, has attracted the attention of countless people.

And now, this scene is finally about to be staged in the real world.

With the advancement of science and technology, the development of the "low-altitude economy" has also entered the fast lane. On October 10, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and other four departments jointly issued the "Outline for the Development of Green Aviation Manufacturing Industry (2023-2035)", proposing that by 2025, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft will be put into pilot operation; by 2035, new general aviation equipment with unmanned, electrified and intelligent technical features will be commercialized and applied on a large scale.

At the 2023 Pujiang Innovation Forum held earlier, visitors stopped to watch a model of an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fang Zhe

Science fiction becomes reality, how to operate an “air taxi”?

eVTOL aircraft have emerged around the world in recent years and are considered to be the main form of future "air taxis". This type of aircraft can take off and land vertically like a helicopter, with low site requirements; compared with helicopters, it is safer and can reach the safety level of civil airliners (only one catastrophic accident is allowed for every 1 billion hours of flight), and because it is powered by electricity, it can achieve low noise and zero carbon emissions.

After its successful maiden flight in Shanghai, the M1 became China's first independently developed and domestically produced 2-ton electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. In the future, it will be mainly used to meet the needs of short-distance air travel within and between cities, shortening the driving distance of 2 to 3 hours to about 30 minutes.

One day in the future, when you go out, open the mobile app to place an order, the taxi that comes to pick you up may rise from the traffic, or it may fall from the sky! We look forward to a more intelligent, convenient, and low-carbon urban air traffic network in the future, making science fiction a reality.

Comprehensive sources: Xinhua News Agency, China News Service, Xinwen Morning Post, Vertaxi, etc.