Wisk Aero, a subsidiary of the Boeing Company, has begun testing aspects of its pilotless air taxi, Interesting Engineering reported.
"We are right now testing and producing the elements of this aircraft that we will hope to fly around the end of this year," said Brian Yutko, CEO of Wisk Aero.
However, it will be much longer than that before customers see the inside of one.
Multiple companies, including Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, and others, are currently developing electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, more commonly known as eVTOLs. They are facing technological issues — mainly around creating eVTOLs that can carry enough weight to transport multiple people and their luggage while also being able to travel distances that make them commercially viable — but also regulatory hurdles.
Wisk Aero will seek to clear these regulatory hurdles by "later in the decade," theoretically beginning to serve passengers by 2030.
The company's "Generation 6" air taxi has a per-charge flying range of 90 miles and can cruise at speeds of 138 miles per hour at 2,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level.
The companies producing these eVTOLs point to the fact that since air travel is such a major source of planet-overheating air pollution due to the dirty energy it burns, electric aircraft represent a big improvement.
Be that as it may, the tiny ranges of these eVTOLs make it unlikely that they will ever replace conventional airplanes. The eVTOLs that currently exist on the market are mainly toys for rich people.
Wisk has claimed in the past to be the first U.S. company to have successfully flown an autonomous eVTOL aircraft, but if you're trying to keep up with which eVTOL companies have claimed to be the first to do something or other, you've really got your work cut out for you.
Other attempts to reduce the pollution created by the aviation industry have centered on producing cleaner airplane fuel. These include biofuel- and hydrogen fuel-powered planes.
In addition, one company has shown that a more aerodynamically designed plane could use significantly less fuel than traditional planes.
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