Ride-hailing app company Uber will open a new advanced technologies centre to develop all-electric flying taxis in Paris, France.
The company’s plan to develop all-electric flying taxis was first announced in 2016, with the Uber Elevate project. Uber’s ultimate goal is to create a network of electrically-powered, vertical take-off and landing aircraft which will function as a taxi fleet, and could be hailed in much the same way through the mobile app.
The new advanced technologies centre will open in Paris later this year, and be dedicated to developing the technology which will facilitate the Uber Elevate service. The centre will be Uber’s first research and development hub outside of North America.
What research projects will be carried out?
Uber plans to invest some €20m into research and innovation efforts at the Advanced Technologies Centre Paris over the coming five years, to develop all-electric flying taxis ready to undertake demonstration flights in the US and another, as-yet undecided country in 2020.
Research projects will focus on machine learning and engineering, and will focus on establishing additional capabilities in the fields of airspace management, autonomous vehicles, real-time communication networks, batteries and charging systems, and energy storage.
How will Uber support this research?
Alongside its €20m investment, Uber will partner with École polytechnique, one of France’s leading engineering universities. The two parties will partner on research into all-electric transport, aviation, and artificial intelligence, which in turn will allow Uber to pursue the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles into its taxi service.
In a statement announcing the development of the new technology centre, Eric Allison, head of aviation programmes at Uber, said that Paris was a natural choice for the new research facility because of its legacy of innovation. He said: ‘France is a perfect home for our next step forward with its strong history of research and development, world-class engineers and a unique role in aviation worldwide.’
