They will also test and build a prototype.
For over 50 years, the flying vehicle has been a promise that has not been fulfilled. George Jetson’s flying car was a promise that has not been kept. A new partnership between Porsche, Boeing could change this one day. Maybe.
Boeing and Porsche have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the “premium urban air mobility market.” The partnership goes beyond exploring the idea.
Boeing, Porsche, and Aurora Flight Sciences (a Boeing subsidiary), along with Porsche Engineering Services, Studio F.A. Porsche will test and build a prototype for a fully-electric vertical take-off/landing vehicle. Vertical take-offs and landing vehicles are not new. Think helicopters and Harriers.
It sounds amazing to imagine a flying car. Fly from your home to fly to school or work. Congested intersections are gone. Congestion-clogging highways caused by car crashes are gone. It’s a good idea if you don’t think too much about it; it’s real-world experiences that are uncertain.
Porsche Consulting’s 2018 study, which predicts that the market will grow after 2025, has bolstered its entry into the “premium urban mobility market.” This sounds like a market for wealthy people but doesn’t want to remind poor people. A study by Porsche Consulting concluded that air transport could be more efficient and faster than current methods of moving people around.
Flying cars are still a new idea, and will probably continue to evolve for at least another half-century. In the past, bold claims about the future of flying cars have been made by companies. You know what happened. The long-promised world is not complete without a vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. Safety standards, regulations, laws – all of these must be determined. Nobody wants to get into that trap.