“If this becomes successful,” she said, “I think that would definitely create a different means of transportation. Professor Aksaray said humans are on the verge of a new mobility revolution, reminiscent of the ones created by the invention of the automobile and the plane. “We don’t have the mass production we would need to buy down the costs of all the development, research, deployment and manufacturing at a small scale.” Professor Atkins echoed that observation and said it’s unlikely that private citizens with a modest income would be able to afford one in the next 20 years. “With any new technology, it will be very expensive in the beginning,” Professor Aksaray said. He projected the price will decrease by 2030. Fukuzawa said SkyDrive plans to begin selling a two-seat version of its eVTOL by 2023 for about $300,000 to $500,000. “These vehicles can provide transportation,” Professor Atkins said, adding that “these communities might skip right over having roads” and use the aircraft as their main form of transportation. Professor Atkins said these machines may be better suited for satellite communities of cities or countries with difficult terrain. “From a cost perspective, they won’t be practical to go to the grocery store.” “They are going to be more energy efficient than helicopters that use a lot of fuel but they will be less energy efficient than cars because they have to lift themselves,” she said. The other challenge is design: The vehicles should be powerful enough to carry any necessary weight, yet quiet enough to fly at undetermined low altitudes, she said.Įlla Atkins, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, expressed mixed views on the practicality of eVTOL machines. “They cannot wait for a pilot or an operator to say, ‘Now do this, now do that.’ We cannot wait for that kind of micromanagement of the vehicle.” “These vehicles need to look at their environment, assess the situation and act accordingly,” she said. Safe autonomous technology for eVTOL aircrafts is still being developed, Professor Aksaray said. Safety is one of two challenges preventing the technology from becoming widely used, said Derya Aksaray, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics at the University of Minnesota. In January, Hyundai and Uber announced they were collaborating on an all-electric air taxi.Īnalysts with Morgan Stanley have said they expect urban air taxis to be common by 2040, with the global market projected to be $1.4 trillion to $2.9 trillion by then. There are several companies developing similar technology, including Boeing and Airbus, as well as automakers Toyota and Porsche. Yakuza on the Field: As Japan’s iconic gangster group faces a changed world and a waning appeal, a softball team is helping former members build a new life.Economic Growth: After more than two years under some of the world’s tightest border controls, tourist spots in Japan are packed. Instead, it attracted an unexpected demographic: absentee students. A Video-Gaming School: Japan’s first e-sports high school thought it would turn out pro gamers.A Corruption Scandal: Japan’s prosecutors accused Dentsu, an advertising company that was one of the driving forces behind the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, of conspiring to evade the public bidding process leading up to the Games.
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