South Korean Sambo Motors recently took the wraps off its HAM III-2 aircraft. This compact vehicle is surprisingly powered by electric motors and hydrogen fuel cells.
"Given its range and flight time, it will be suitable for military purposes, messenger, and commercial purposes. In the future, it's going to be for commercial, like, city to city or point-to-point taxis," a company rep told Interesting Engineering.
Battery power is used during vertical take-off, after which the HAM III-2 switches to hydrogen power. Seating is available for two people, flight time is estimated at 40 minutes, range is set to 100 kilometers (about 62 miles), and cruising speed is about 112 miles per hour.
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Definitely 👍 Test flights are being planned in the U.S. early this year. It's going to be awhile until the HAM III-2 is properly ready for commercial use, however. It hasn't even made its maiden flight yet, and it is pending approval from the Korea Office of Civil Aviation and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Air travel contributes a significant amount of pollution. That hasn't slowed down travel demand though, which means we're going to need to find green solutions like this that can help keep the planet in good shape.
Hydrogen fuel shows promise, but its sustainability largely depends on how it's made. Energy is needed to separate hydrogen from water, and if that energy comes from gas or (worse still) coal, then using hydrogen power isn't doing much for our pollution.
Watch now: What's the true environmental impact of renewable energy?
The HAM III-2 is certainly novel, and could eventually find a home in a new market of short-haul urban transportation. A city peppered with sustainable air taxis zooming through the sky is a compelling vision, if one set in the future. We've seen hydrogen power deployed for sea travel already, so there's reason to maintain some hope.
If this is the kind of future you want to see, check out some of the other surprising use cases for hydrogen power here.
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