These are the days of the merger of FCA with the French PSA in the group Stellantis, the fourth in the world thanks to the union of 20 brands and an aggregate turnover potentially exceeding 200 billion. The car manufacturer of Turin origins brings a project to the deal that confirms its increasingly forward-looking gaze: in fact, prototyping of a vertical take-off cab has begun and will be realized in collaboration with the startup Archer Aviation, based in California.
The model will be able to reach a speed of 150 mph with a maximum range of 65 miles, it will be controlled by a human driver and it will work with a mechanism of vertical take-off and horizontal flight supported by 6 propellers mounted on the wings. According to the two CEOs of Archer Aviation this type of flying vehicles will be a revolution in urban air mobility given the safety equal to that of aircrafts but the greater versatility and their environmental sustainability.
The sector in question, according to some projections, could reach, by the end of the decade, a value of 1,500 million dollars. From the point of view of prototyping, this type of market is already quite lively: there are ongoing projects born from the partnership between Hyundai and Uber (which was then succeeded by Joby Aviation), the German Lilium is planning its first flight in 2025 thanks to a funding of 100 million euros, in Dubai, Volocopter has already started its tests and Boeing, Kitty Hawk and Nec Corp are also moving in this direction.
At the moment to support the project of Stellantis and Archer Aviation, in addition to the finances of the two realities, has intervened Marc Lore, president and CEO of Walmart.
We have only a little question: how do you hail a flying cab?
