Kelekona’s flying taxi bus is unlike any eVOTL aircraft we’ve seen before.
For starters, the audacious New York City startup is proposing an aircraft that could carry up to 40 passengers.
Not only that, though – this eVOTL would apparently travel long distances and high speeds, too.
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Kelekona is just one of a number of companies trying to compete in an emerging eVOTL market.
So far we’ve seen the world’s first flying car, the Xpeng X2, complete a cross-river flight.
We’ve also seen an eVOTL air taxi complete its first inter-city flight in China.
But in both of these instances, the aircraft are only capable of carrying between two to five passengers.
The flying taxi bus, on the other hand, would be able to carry 40 passengers plus a pilot per flight – or an enormous 10,000 lb (4,540 kg) of cargo.
What’s more, where the other eVOTL aircraft we’ve seen are capable of traveling up to 250 km (155 mi), the flying taxi bus could make the 531 km-run (331 mi) between LA and San Francisco in just one hour.
And then there’s the airframe, which is certainly an interesting design.
It’ll rise off the ground using four banks of two large, ducted fans with variable pitch blades.
These fan banks will tilt forward to get this eVOTL aircraft move into forward flight.
But, unlike other vectored thrust eVOTLs that have large, wide wings, the flying taxi bus will rely on its body shape alone to provide enough lift for efficient forward flight.
That’s why it’s got a chunky, fat, wide body with a teardrop shape to its side profile.
It’s huge, and will need to move pretty quickly to support itself carrying 40 people and have a huge battery pack for those inter-city flights.
Speaking of which, Kelekona plans to make the battery pack swappable, rolling the whole underfloor of the eVOTL aircraft out to be slow-charged while the flying taxi bus moves onto its next destination.
Unlike any other eVOTL we’ve seen to-date, we’ll be keeping a keen eye on the progress of the flying taxi bus, so keep your eyes peeled.
