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| Uber's ambitions for air taxis are nearing an end |
Uber's ambitious efforts to launch an air-taxi service are nearing an end as the company agreed to sell its Uber Elevate unit to start Joby Aviation.
The news came when Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tried to sell the company's losing division in an effort to boost the company's profitability.
Uber is also said to be investigating sales of self-driving cars.
Uber first announced its intent to create a network of electric flying taxis in a white paper published in 2016.
Uber calculated that the journey from San Francisco to San Jose would take two hours and 12 minutes, while the air taxi service would take 15 minutes.
Last year, Uber began offering helicopter flights from Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The purpose of the trip is for users to understand the experience of using the Uber app to request a ride instead of a ride, and the company sees an opportunity to collect data for taxi services. air.
These plans are based on electric aviation technology, which is still under development and has not been tested in commercial services.
Choosing Joby Aviation as a buyer makes sense: In December 2019, ridesharing announced that it is joining the airline and has been developing electric aircraft for more than a decade.
Joby Aviation is the first company to stick to Uber's strict schedule to launch air taxi service by 2023.
Unlike the dozens of other companies currently building eVTOL vertical take off and landing aircraft, Joby Aviation is keeping several project secrets.
Some of the displays show a hybrid drone with 12 fans and provide space for four passenger cabins.
In January 2020, Jobi Air announced a partnership with Toyota to launch an air taxi service with its new aircraft.
The electric plane has six propellers and five seats and can take off vertically like a helicopter.
Joby Aviation said: This plane can reach a top speed of 200 mph and travel 150 miles on a single charge, which is 100 times quieter than a conventional plane.