BEIJING – Floating vehicles zooming seemingly unhindered by gravity betweenskyscrapers used to be in the exclusive realm of science fiction.
But the dream of flying over traffic is now closer to reality. The world’sfirst passenger drone, the EHang 184, made its debut public flight onTuesday. Once passengers get into the small cabin and fasten their seatbelts, the automated flight system takes over.
“All the traditional flying vehicles cannot achieve the goal of fullyautonomous flying, so it’s still far away from being used in dailycommuting,” said Hu Huazhi, CEO of EHang, the drone’s Chinese manufacturer.
Tuesday’s flight means the scenes that used to exist only in sci-fi movies”are now very close to common people,” Hu added.
EHang says the vehicle runs on electric batteries. It can carry one personweighing up to 100 kilograms at a time. The drone can cruise at an altitudeof 500 meters and fly at a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour for 25minutes.
The company says the drone’s been tested over a thousand times and isdesigned to withstand moderate gales with winds of up to 50 kilometers perhour. But the biggest concern remains safety.
“We have special fail-safe systems that take over in the event ofmalfunctions, plus passengers can get the drone to stop and hover in placeif needed,” said Hu. “I believe this year we could get flying permits in 80percent of the countries and regions around the world.”
Last year, the city of Dubai announced a plan to cooperate with EHang todevelop self-flying taxis taking people across the city.
Experts say self-flying vehicles can greatly reduce traffic congestion downthe road and what’s more important is that they can be used for cityservices like emergency rescue.
EHang said the final commercial product will fly into the market, possiblywithin a year.