WHEN HE WAS still a boy making long, tedious trips between his school and his woodsy home in the mountains during the 1980s, JoeBen Bevirt began fantasizing about flying cars that could whisk him to his destination in a matter of minutes.
As CEO of Joby Aviation, Bevirt is getting closer to turning his boyhood flights of fancy into a dream come true as he and latter-day versions of the Wright Brothers launch a new class of electric-powered aircraft vying to become taxis in the sky.
The aircraft—known as electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, or eVTOL—lift off the ground like a helicopter before flying at speeds up to 322 km per hour with a range of about 161 km. And these craft do it without filling the air with excessive noise.
"We are just a few steps from the finish line. We want to turn what are now one- and two-hour trips into five-minute trips," Bevirt, 51, told AP before a Joby air taxi took off on a test flight in Marina, California.
Archer Aviation, a Silicon Valley firm backed by Stellantis and United Airlines, has been testing its own eVTOLs over farmland in Salinas, California, where a prototype called 'Midnight' could be seen gliding above a tractor plowing fields last November.
Denne historien er fra January 09, 2025-utgaven av Financial Express Kochi.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January 09, 2025-utgaven av Financial Express Kochi.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Cloud, GCCs key digital economy drivers: MeitY report
THE CLOUD MARKET and global capability centres (GCCs) are among the fast-growing segments of India's digital economy which is expected to drive a fifth of national GDP by 2030, a report by MeitY has said.
OpenAI to Indian court: Can't delete ChatGPT training data
'BREACH OF US LEGAL OBLIGATIONS'
Indus Towers to foray into EV charging infrastructure
Indus Towers has launched pilot electric-vehicle charging stations at two locations, it said on Thursday, amid the country's growing push to adopt the environmentally cleaner models.
Luxury car sales facing China hurdle: Tatas
JAGUAR LAND ROVER's owner, Tata Motors, said profitability is being hurt by economic challenges in China, a market where weak demand and consumer preference for electric vehicles is curbing sales of traditional top-end cars.
CCPA Notices to Ola, Uber Over Price Disparity Complaints
The Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued notices to tech giant Apple and cab aggregators Ola and Uber following consumer complaints about software performance and pricing disparities, Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Thursday.
Setting a cat among the pigeons
THE WORLD SHOULD EXPLORE NIMBLE, COST-EFFECTIVE OPTIONS TO THE STARGATE APPROACH
Package likely to ramp up pulses & oilseeds output
Govt keen to rein in imports of these items by boosting domestic production
In the grey zone
Meta's fact-check roll-back can upend contextual ads
This Chinese AI startup is taking on Silicon Valley giants
THE DAY AFTER Christmas, a small Chinese start-up called DeepSeek unveiled a new AI system that could match the capabilities of cutting-edge chatbots from companies like OpenAI and Google.
Bidhuri, Atishi Approach EC With Allegations
BJP's KALKAJI CANDIDATE Ramesh Bidhuri and his AAP opponent from the constituency Atishi on Thursday lodged complaints against each other with the Election Commission.
