Think Amazon delivery drones are a radical idea? A Chinese startup called Ehang has used the same technology to build an aircraft to carry a passenger more than 20 miles.
The EHang 184 AAV is a one-person pod lifted by eight rotors mounted in pairs on four folding arms — thus the number 184. Announced Wednesday at the CES tech show in Las Vegas, the battery-powered aircraft is designed to carry a passenger for 23 minutes at about 60 miles per hour. The machine pilots itself.
For decades, people have dreamed of soaring over traffic jams with jetpacks, flying cars and other personal aircraft. Some of designs are more traditional, like the two-person Icon A5 that lands on water or dry ground, and some are more futuristic, like the Terrafugia Transition, meant for both roadways and airways. Regardless, making that personal aviation dream a reality means working through difficulties intertwining cost, safety, engineering and regulations.
“The 184 provides a viable solution to the many challenges the transportation industry faces in a safe and energy efficient way,” said EHang Chief Executive Huazhi Hu in a statement. Though it’s initially aimed at commuters and adventuresome people, “EHang will make a global impact across dozens of industries beyond personal travel,” he said.
Before that can happen, EHang’s whirlybird ambitions will have to reckon with sharp regulatory constraints.
“It isn’t going to be that you get one under the Christmas tree, take it outside, and go flying. You’re still talking about what amounts to a manned aircraft,” more like a helicopter than a drone, said Mark Dombroff, an aviation attorney for law firm Dentons, who previously represented the Federal Aviation Administration and Justice Department. “They’re not going to be able to sell this without having some sort of airworthiness certificate, probably experimental.”
EHang said that it’s working with multiple governments around the world and that no pilot’s license will be required to use the 184 AAV. Passengers navigate by tapping a destination on an electronic map on the aircraft’s tablet interface, and the 184 handles the rest.