Ehang Taxi Drone to Transport Passengers in Dubai

ehang-taxi-drone-to-transport-passengers-in-dubai photo 1

The Ehang 184 drone is poised to start transporting passengers this summer in Dubai.

At the World Government Summit on Monday, the Head of Dubai's Roads and Transportation Agency, Mattar al-Tayer, said the aircraft, which offers room for just one person at a time, will be operational in July, according to the Associated Press. Riders will be able to select a destination on a touch screen in front of the seat, and sit back as the drone flies there on its own.

"This is not only a model," al-Tayer said, according to the report. "We have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai's skies."

Just don't expect to go very far, or bring a ton of luggage along for the ride. According to the AP, the drone can carry passengers who weigh up to 220 pounds, plus one small piece of luggage. Its battery allows for just 30 minutes of flight time and a range of 31 miles.

It's also not particularly fast, clocking a top speed of 100mph. It's expected to operate around 62mph most of the time as someone remotely monitors it from a control room on the ground.

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We first got a look at the Ehang 184 at last year's Consumer Electronics Show and called it one of the stranger things we saw there. In June, word spread that Guangzhou, China-based EHang, the company responsible for the helicopter-looking drone, was headed to the US to further develop, test, and validate the system. The company is reportedly working with on the effort with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS), a nonprofit sponsored by the governor's economic development office.

Meanwhile, Uber is also working to make flying cars a thing. The app-based car service earlier this month hired Mark Moore, an advanced aircraft engineer who spent three decades working at NASA, to oversee its flying car efforts.

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