James Bond would love it. Aston Martin, maker of the luxury sports cars favored by the fictional British spy, has come up with a futuristic personal aircraft it has dubbed “a sports car for the skies.”
Aston Martin this week unveiled the three-seater hybrid-electric vehicle at the Farnborough Airshow and, although the concept for now remains the stuff of science fiction, believes it could help one day to revolutionize travel.
The Volante Vision Concept has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, and would be able to hit speeds of about 322kph, “so you can go from the center of Birmingham to the center of London in about 30 minutes,” Aston Martin vice president Simon Sproule said.
Aviation and technology leaders are working to make electric-powered flying taxis a reality, including Airbus, US ride sharing firm Uber and a range of start-ups.
Aston Martin believes it could corner the market for luxury flying vehicles.
“The same way that you have Uber and you have an Aston Martin, you’ll have ‘Uber in the skies’ and you’ll have ‘Aston Martin in the skies,’” Sproule said, adding that such an aircraft would not come cheap.
“This is clearly a luxury object — it’s a sports car for the skies — so pricing is going to be commensurate with that, so certainly into the seven figures,” he said.
The firm partnered with Cranfield University, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and British jet engine maker Rolls-Royce to develop the concept vehicle, including artificial intelligence-powered autonomous capabilities.
Commenting on how to pilot the vehicle, Cranfield School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing pro-vice chancellor Helen Atkinson said: “You’ve got to detect what’s going on in the external environment and then turn that around incredibly quickly in the computer system with the artificial intelligence built in to actually achieve the necessary level of autonomy.”
Separately at Farnborough, Rolls-Royce unveiled plans for a flying taxi — an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle that could carry four to five people at speeds of up to 400kph for about 805km.
The company said it was starting a search for partners to help develop a project it hopes could take to the skies as soon as the early 2020s.
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