Uber partners with Nasa to launch flying car service by 2020

Uber is teaming up with Nasa to launch an electric-powered flying car service in Los Angeles and other cities worldwide in 2020.

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.”

“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.