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Uber partners with Nasa to launch flying car service by 2020
Two firms will develop new air traffic control system to help new ride-sharing project take off
Announced the UberAir partnership at this year’s Web Summit in Lisbon, the two companies have “signed a Space Act Agreement” that will see the ride-hailing firm partner with the aerospace agency “to make flying vehicles at a low altitude safe and viable”, says CNet.
According to The Verge, the partnership is developing “a brand-new air traffic control system” designed to manage flying - and “possibly autonomous” - passenger cars.
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The move is all part of Uber’s “Elevate” project, adds the website, which aims to establish an electric flying car ride-sharing service in cities around the world by 2020.
Currently, says The Verge, the company plans to open flying car ports in Dubai, LA and Dallas-Fort Worth, in Texas. But the list could grow following the Nasa partnership announcement.
Although Uber has been a pioneer in connected ride-sharing, says BBC News, “experts questioned whether the plan could ever get off the ground”.
Speaking to the news site, Professor David Dunn, from the University of Birmingham, said: “Many firms are looking at this and there is a lot of blue-sky thinking going on about how we can access the air in ways we haven’t done before.”
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“Uber is associating its brand with the future. This might be more about marketing than a realistic product,” he added.
But the firm’s product chief, Jeff Holden, argues that the electric vehicles will be a cleaner and quieter alternative to helicopters, reports CNet.
Flying cars - which are currently still in a concept state - will be emission free, says Holden, and can safely maintain flight even if any single part fails.
