In the face of the increasingly crowded roads in the city, people began to look into the sky, the concept of urban aircraft has long been in place, the latest to join the field is the aircraft manufacturer Boeing and car manufacturer Porsche, the two giants this Thursday It is announced that it will cooperate to “explore the quality urban air traffic market and expand urban traffic to high altitude” through an “all-electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft”. In other words, Boeing and Porsche will cooperate to build a flying electric vehicle.

The announcement did not disclose the funds or specific deadlines planned for the project. It only indicated that the two teams will form a team to explore the market potential of high-end aircraft. The project will also involve Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences, which acquired Boeing in 2017. It is based on advanced technologies such as electric aircraft vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and large drones. Boeing also funded a Stanford University laboratory specializing in new aircraft.

▲ In early 2019, Boeing’s unmanned aerial vehicle completed its first test flight outside of Washington. Image: CNN

“As a sports car manufacturer, Porsche hopes to expand its market by becoming a leading brand in high-end travel,” said sales director Detlev von Platen. “This may mean entering the third dimension of travel.”

Unmanned aerial vehicles and manned aircraft are regarded as the future development direction of urban transportation and travel. Many automobile manufacturers are actively deploying. Daimler and its largest shareholder Geely recently participated in the German city air travel company Volocopter. GmbH’s C-round financing, the latter’s prototype resembling a hybrid of helicopters and drones, recently completed a test flight in Stuttgart, and Geely will also establish a joint venture with Volocopter in China.

▲ Image from: Volocopter

Vertical takeoff and landing is also frequently mentioned. Geely’s acquisition of the American company Terrafugia has announced that its flying car TF-X will take off and land. Geely believes that the product can be mass-produced in 2023. The concept aircraft Volante Vision Concept released by Aston Martin last year also emphasized vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. With vertical take-off and landing capability, it means that the aircraft does not need a runway and has low requirements for landing and landing. Therefore, it is considered as a small flight.The key to the development of the device.

Uber, which started out on a shared trip, is also targeting the “flying” market, and they plan to test air taxis in Dallas, Los Angeles and Dubai starting in 2020.

Porsche has expressed interest in the air-flying car market as early as last year, but according to Platen’s statement at the time, their goals It is not a private car that can be used for air flight, but the air taxi market.

Aircraft manufacturers are naturally unwilling to lag behind. Boeing’s competitor Airbus released the air car project called Vahana (meaning “vehicle” in Sanskrit) as early as 2016. According to the plan, the aircraft will be physically built in 2020. The year is completed.

▲ Vahana concept image from: Vahana.aero

However, even if the technical problems are solved, the air car will face enormous obstacles for the ordinary people to use. It is just that the traffic management over the city is enough to make the transportation department a headache.

However, Porsche Consulting predicts that the urban air traffic market will accelerate after 2025 and believes that air traffic solutions will deliver passengers at a higher efficiency and at a lower cost than current traditional land vehicles. More flexibility.