‘Flying car’: lack of landing points postpones takeoff – 06/20/2023 – Market

Self-driving cars are already a reality in San Francisco. One day, perhaps, flying taxis will run over them. There are two major obstacles to doing this. First, regulators still haven’t approved the vehicles. Second: they have nowhere to land.

The special-purpose acquisition frenzy seen in 2021 that saw non-revenue electric plane companies such as Joby da Santa Cruz, Archer Aviation, Lilium and Vertical Aerospace enter the markets has unraveled.

Despite raising hundreds of millions of dollars, commercial operations have yet to be launched.

The prediction made by Morgan Stanley that autonomous aircraft could have a total available market of US$ 1.5 trillion (R$ 7.1 trillion) by 2040 seems totally exaggerated.

Ratings plummeted. Shares in Spacs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) typically cost $10 (R$48) a share. Joby’s are being traded for less than US$ 8 (R$ 38), Archer’s for US$ 4.45 (R$ 21), Lilium’s for US$ 1.35 (R$ 6) and Vertical’s for just US$0.17 (R$0.81).

Even so, investments are still being made.

After ordering 100 vehicles from Archer, United Airlines signed a contract for 200 from Eve Air Mobility. Boeing is betting on the autonomous air taxi startup Wisk.

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) predicts that there will be high demand for air taxis at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Billy Nolen, the FAA director who made this prediction, has since gone to work for Archer. The news of his joining the company raised the company’s stock price by a fifth.

But even if the vehicles receive regulatory approval, the infrastructure will still be an issue.

Air taxis, or eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) need large, flat, obstacle-free surfaces to land safely. If they are too noisy, city dwellers will complain.

Lacuna Technologies, which creates software for transport networks, points out that the electric plane will also need charging points.

The companies intend to use the existing heliports. Archer, for example, hopes to fly between its Midtown Manhattan Helipad and Newark Airport. However, to create useful services it will need multiple and convenient landing sites located in the center of cities.

Without a network of take-off and landing points, air taxi services will not get off the ground.

Translated by Clara Allain