The sixth-generation aircraft, a four-seat all-electric air taxi that can fly without a human pilot, was introduced by air taxi startup Wisk Aero. The Boeing-backed business announced that it will apply for permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate an air taxi service that carries passengers.
Wisk, a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk, the flying taxi startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page that recently shut down, was established in 2019. Wisk is competing to be the first of the so-called Advanced Air Mobility companies to receive FAA approval for passenger testing. The first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) contender for type certification, according to Wisk, is its sixth-generation aircraft.
Before beginning a commercial service, aviation companies are required by FAA regulations to obtain three categories of certification. Type certification certifies that the aircraft satisfies all FAA design and safety requirements; production certification authorises the start of the aircraft's production, and air carrier certification certifies that the company is authorised to provide commercial air taxi services.
The Wisk aircraft has six front rotors with five blades each that can tilt either vertically or horizontally, and six rear rotors with two blades each that are set in a vertical position. According to the manufacturer, it can fly between 2,500 and 4,000 feet above the ground, has a cruising speed of 120 knots, and has a range of 90 miles (140 kilometres) when its reserves are fully charged.
Wisk aims to one day provide an intercity flying taxi service that can be summoned with an app, like Uber or Lyft. The plan is for the vehicle to not have a pilot on board; instead, it will be flown mainly by an autopilot system, with supervision from a human pilot situated remotely. The aircraft would theoretically take off and land from so-called vertiports located on the rooftops of buildings.
The company has said it hopes to launch an air taxi service within the next five years, at which point it predicts conducting 14 million flights annually in around 20 major markets around the globe.
Air taxis, sometimes misidentified as “flying cars,” are essentially helicopters without the noisy, polluting gas motors (though they certainly have their own unique noise profile). In addition to Wisk, companies like Joby Aviation, Volocopter, Ehang, and Archer have claimed they are on the cusp of launching services that will eventually scale up nationwide.
They’ve managed to attract funding from a number of established companies, including Hyundai, Toyota, Airbus, Boeing, Bell, and Uber. Analysts predict that the flying taxi market could grow to $150 billion in revenue by 2035.
Of course, serious obstacles remain before Wisk or any other company can launch a commercial service. The power-to-weight ratio is a huge challenge for electric flights. Energy density — the amount of energy stored in a given system — is the key metric, and today’s batteries don’t contain enough energy to get most planes off the ground. To weigh it out: jet fuel gives us about 43 times more energy than a battery that’s just as heavy.
There have been numerous demonstrations of battery-powered flight, but there are no electric aircraft in commercial operation anywhere in the world.