Flying taxi achieves record-breaking 842 km journey

TPO - A hydrogen-electric flying taxi has completed a record-breaking 842 km flight over California, USA, emitting only water as a direct byproduct. This is the first flight powered by hydrogen fuel capable of vertical takeoff and landing.

Joby Aviation's hydrogen-electric flying taxi recently flew three times farther than the company's battery-powered flying taxi. (Photo: Joby Aviation)

The flight, which was three times longer than the previous distance record set by an electric vehicle from the same developer, demonstrates the potential of hydrogen to enable zero-emission, regional travel, according to a statement from Joby Aviation, the company behind the flying taxi prototype. The flying taxi still had 10% of its hydrogen fuel remaining after the flight, meaning it could fly even further in the future.

This is the first nonstop flight of a hydrogen-powered aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). Previous hydrogen-powered flights have used aircraft that require runways or smaller vehicles, such as Metavista’s unmanned multirotor design. Those hydrogen-powered flights have lasted anywhere from 10 minutes to three hours, in the case of the H2FLY design (H2FLY is a subsidiary of Joby Aviation). Metavista’s flying taxi flew for a record 12 hours. It’s unclear how far these planes have flown, but H2FLY says its planes could one day fly as far as 930 miles.

Hydrogen-electric flying taxi

Joby Aviation's flying taxi is a modified electric aircraft with six propellers that can be used in urban environments. The original battery-powered vehicle completed 40,000 kilometers of testing over multiple flights at the company's headquarters in Marina, California, and over New York City. Engineers then converted the battery-powered aircraft into a hydrogen-electric aircraft by adding a fuel tank capable of holding 40 kilograms of liquid hydrogen, as well as a hydrogen fuel cell system.

Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity, water, and heat in the presence of oxygen. The electricity then powers the plane’s rotors, while the water is discharged as a waste product. The plane also carries a smaller battery pack, which provides extra power during takeoff and landing.

“Imagine being able to fly from San Francisco to San Diego, Boston to Baltimore, or Nashville to New Orleans without ever having to go to an airport and emitting no emissions except water,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation.

The advantage of a hydrogen-powered design is that it can travel much further than an electric battery-powered design, which needs to be recharged every 100 to 150 miles.

Joby Aviation plans to start selling its initial battery-electric design in 2025. It will take longer to bring hydrogen and electric flying taxis to market, but much of the design and testing work has been completed on battery-electric aircraft for commercial use.

Joby Aviation recently became the first electric VTOL aircraft developer to complete the third of five phases of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification process. During this third phase, the FAA reviewed and approved Joby’s certification plans for the aircraft’s structural, mechanical, and electrical systems. The next phase will involve the FAA reviewing the entire aircraft and all of its systems.

Joby Aviation plans to deploy the same infrastructure, landing pads, operations team and software for both types of vehicles, allowing them to be used concurrently or seamlessly transition from one to the other.

Ha Thu

According to Live Science

Source: https://tienphong.vn/taxi-bay-dat-hanh-trinh-ky-luc-dai-842-km-post1659343.tpo