Uber's Flying Cars Could be in Texas and Dubai by Next Year

Hello ATS

Got an update on Flying Cars..It seems that Uber is making a big push to roll out flying cars through its Uber Elevate program; Dubai and Ft Worth Texas are really interested. Uber has partnerships with 5 certain electric vehicle manufacturers who are developing Vertical takeoff technology and teaming up with companies in Ft Wworth, Texas and Dubai to develop "Vertiports" to get things started. Another company is working on the infrastructure needed to keep the vehicles going.

At its "Uber Elevate" summit Tuesday, the company announced a series of partnerships to start figuring this out. It has joined real estate companies Hillwood Properties in Texas and Dubai Holding in the UAE to identify locations for "vertiports" and get them built. Chargepoint, which operates 34,000 electric vehicle charging spots in North America and Australia, will design, develop, and deploy the infrastructure needed to keep the aircraft going. In a white paper Uber published in October, the company estimated it would need 1,000 aircraft and 83 vertiports, with 12 charging spots apiece, to serve three or four cities.

More importantly, Uber has signed deals with five companies that are developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft: Pentagon-backed Aurora Flight Sciences, electric plane maker Pipistrel, Bell Helicopter, Embraer, and small plane maker Mooney. If they bow out or fail to deliver, others can take their place. Germany's Lilium just proved its funky electric aircraft can fly. China's eHang plans to launch people-carrying drones in Dubai this summer. And Google founder Larry Page just revealed his flying car prototype, though it looks more at home in Skymall than the sky.

With all of the partnerships and such this may be different this time and we just might see flying cars in the air soon. Pretty cool if successful! I'm not gonna get my hopes up too high until I actually see flying cars in action. The elusive promise of flying cars is upon us again....................what say you, ATS?

www.wired.com...

a reply to: lostbook

Losing billions of dollars a year and they want to start flying taxis?

They might be flying themselves right into bankruptcy.

Or maybe that will get them to finally make a profit.

Date stamp on the article is

04.25.17 01:40 pm

That was 2 and a half years ago. Where the hell are my flying hipster taxis?

Edit: According to a Fox business article from 3 days ago, my flying hipster taxis are still 3 years out. Flying Ubers in 2023. Maybe. That's already 3 years late, probably will get pushed back again.

a reply to: Nyiah

One wonders what will come first flying cars or driverless cars. Unfortunately, an uber driverless care last year killed a pedestrian. That set that back.

Maybe this time an Uber flying car will be mistaken for a UFO and end up a subject on History channels Ancient Aliens.

originally posted by: Nyiah
Date stamp on the article is

04.25.17 01:40 pm

That was 2 and a half years ago. Where the hell are my flying hipster taxis?

Edit: According to a Fox business article from 3 days ago, my flying hipster taxis are still 3 years out. Flying Ubers in 2023. Maybe. That's already 3 years late, probably will get pushed back again.

Good catch. I didn't see the date. I took it that this is a new article.

originally posted by: Willtell
a reply to: Nyiah

One wonders what will come first flying cars or driverless cars. Unfortunately, an uber driverless care last year killed a pedestrian. That set that back.

Maybe this time an Uber flying car will be mistaken for a UFO and end up a subject on History channel Ancient Aliens.

Maybe....

a reply to: lostbook

I will believe in flying cars when I see it!

originally posted by: Willtell
a reply to: Nyiah

One wonders what will come first flying cars or driverless cars. Unfortunately, an uber driverless care last year killed a pedestrian. That set that back.

Maybe this time an Uber flying car will be mistaken for a UFO and end up a subject on History channel Ancient Aliens.

Flying cars will probably hit the same early resistance early passenger aircraft & even trains did (the pushback against trains was funny, evidently we weren't supposed to be able to survive those speeds, lol)
Even private automobiles weren't taken too seriously at first. I think like those, flying plane-cars (be it privately owned personal ones or taxis, in essence) will get the kinks worked out just fine. They're not the first mode of transportation to have to prove itself to the leery.

Quick edit: I'm referring to ones with a live driver, not driverless ones. Hell if I know with those myself. Your guess is as good as mine.

a reply to: Nyiah

I think they just go on and off of a roof on buildings. They won't be landing and taking off on sidewalks.

originally posted by: Willtell
a reply to: Nyiah

I think they just go on and off of a roof on buildings. They won't be landing and taking off on sidewalks.

This is my thinking as well. However, the main take-off and landing will probably be at the Vertiports.

Uber flying cars.

So now you can go from being raped on the ground to being raped in the air.

Awesome.

Ok.....so now we not only have to look both ways when crossing the road so you don't get hit, you also have to look up. So, you decide to park in a parallel parking spot and a Uber lands in it and your car insurance jumps double because you just ran into a three hundred thousand dollar flying car.

I hope those cars don't have hubcaps that fall off, They won't even get off the ground when they get packed up with snow around here in the winter. What happens in a hard rainstorm when it zooms in, radar and computer accessed navigation cameras do not work very well in hard rain.

originally posted by: Nyiah
Date stamp on the article is

04.25.17 01:40 pm

That was 2 and a half years ago. Where the hell are my flying hipster taxis?

Edit: According to a Fox business article from 3 days ago, my flying hipster taxis are still 3 years out. Flying Ubers in 2023. Maybe. That's already 3 years late, probably will get pushed back again.

You are right. Can't see it happening soon. Maybe in Disney's "Tomorrow Land."

Kind regards,

Bally

I’d like to know some things about flying cars.

How high are they going to fly?

Who will police them? Are we going to have flying cops? Oh goodness!

Will they park in the sky and just hover like some kind of flying bug?

What happens when there are a lot of them? Will they have sky maps?

What happens when there’s an accident in the sky?

Flying cars were in the movie with Tom Cruise, The Minority Report. It was pretty wild looking with flying cars zinging all over the place. There they had roads built in the sky.

Uber Future?

This is more like it. And you get the babe along with the flying car


A James Bond Future

a reply to: lostbook


I dont understand the rush to flying cars...

there are massive safety and security issues here.. not just the safety of people in the vehicle, but those who could be targeted by the vehicle... suddenly, road bollards, high fences, security guards, wheel traps, backyards dont work and you can stuff a car full of dynamite and fly it into anything you want.

its not as if we have AA turrets lying about...

originally posted by: Agit8dChop
a reply to: lostbook


I dont understand the rush to flying cars...

there are massive safety and security issues here.. not just the safety of people in the vehicle, but those who could be targeted by the vehicle... suddenly, road bollards, high fences, security guards, wheel traps, backyards dont work and you can stuff a car full of dynamite and fly it into anything you want.

its not as if we have AA turrets lying about...

Yes, I agree. I thought about that possibility where people in flying cars could attack buildings, bridges, dams, stadiums, and more. It will definitely have to be an entirely automated system and vehicles should be "closed in." No open windows to drop bombs from.

a reply to: Agit8dChop

I think it would cost too much to install one of these little doodads on top of every post office, court house, police station, ball stadium, school, park, etcetera, and so forth.



They will need a remote destruct system that will be advanced enough to account for where the debris will land. How about pre-arranged crash sites in every city to give the auto pilot a place to plant the car that is trying to attack a public area or mechanical failure.

Fan belt breaks, no survivors.

originally posted by: Nyiah

That was 2 and a half years ago. Where the hell are my flying hipster taxis?

Edit: According to a Fox business article from 3 days ago, my flying hipster taxis are still 3 years out. Flying Ubers in 2023. Maybe. That's already 3 years late, probably will get pushed back again.

Oh. I was getting enthusiastic a bit, and then you did some investigative work... Good, i like facts, but i also want those cars flying already. When i was a little boy, i was sure that it will happen somewhere around year 2000.

Ahhh Flying Uber.

Now you can be molested at 7000ft.

(well I don't know how high they will fly, but still..)