Flying Cars Are Nearly Here!
At CES 2020 in Las Vegas today, Uber plans to deliver on a century-old promise. With the help of Boeing, Bell, Embraer, and now Hyundai, an urban air taxi service called Uber Elevate could soon take flight. But will it arrive on-time for Uber investors?
Fast-moving hi-tech doesn’t have time to sit in traffic! Elon Musk’s Boring Co. is tunneling underneath it with Hyperloop networks, and now Uber is flying over it in electrically-powered Personal Air Vehicles (PAVs).
Specks in the sky at 1000-to-2000 feet, PAVs look like remote-controlled helicopters in their mockups. They’ll be unmanned and ready for take-off commercially in about five years. They could be worth the wait!
Uber says the 50-mile trip from near its headquarters to the heart of Silicon Valley would take just 15 minutes, implying a speed of 200 miles per hour over urban terrain! We’d all travel on shared flights of up to four people in an “aerial offering that’s safe, quiet, and environmentally conscious.” It’s tipped to be ready for testing in cities this year, so keep one eye to the sky!
Uber, well known as a disruptor, needs to Elevate to prevent being disrupted. The threat of self-driving cars to its ride-hailing business has upped the ante for Uber to turn into an all-round transportation company.
Japanese automaker Hyundai brings to the table a production line. The more efficiently these air vehicles can be made, the cheaper passenger costs per trip. The company is also working on ‘Skyport’ air terminals and shuttles needed for the final mile.
Investors will be furiously taking notes during Uber’s presentation today as shares in the tech unicorn struggle to run on just hopes of profits, rather than actual profits. Motorola will also be at CES with a foldable phone, Adobe with a buzzer-less doorbell, and Samsung with some phones and a giant QLED TV called ‘The Wall.’
Tune in to see what new gadgets could be commercialized next!
