A lot of the technology we use in regular cars today was first created to help race cars go faster. In light of that, Matt Pearson, an entrepreneur from Australia, birthed an idea. He is of the stance that if we want to make flying cars go faster, we should turn it into a race. So, his company Alauda started to make what is a racing drone that could be flown by a human.
Thus, Pearson stated “It is about time we had flying cars. Racing is a great way to make technology better. It’s not enough to just build the flying car; we have to create a whole new sport. Our goal is to bring the excitement and values of Formula 1 up into the sky”. You can get more exciting information about flying cars at FuturePlay News.
The MK1
Further, in 2017, Matt Pearson started a crowdfunding project on Kickstarter. The purpose is to push the wild idea of making electric flying cars that can take off and land vertically and be turned into a cool racing sport. The company called it the Alauda Mark 1 Airspeeder.
This flying car is designed to carry one pilot and zoom up to a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). It is powered by four special 50-kilowatt electric motors, which use the same kind of batteries found in a Tesla Model S. The car itself was proposed to be lightweight, made from aerospace aluminum and carbon fiber, with a total weight of around 120 kg (265 lb) and a power-to-weight ratio of 1.66.
The MK3
After conducting over 350 test flights and even having two races to show off their remote-controlled Airspeeder Mk3 flying car, Alauda Aeronautics has now unveiled the blueprint for their first flying car meant for human pilots. This speedy vehicle can go as fast as 360 kilometres per hour and cover a distance of up to 300 kilometres on a single charge.
In 2019, the Airspeeder made its big debut worldwide. They even made a real, full-sized flying car in early 2021, and after a lot of testing and fine-tuning, they had a cool race with a remote-controlled flying car later that year. In 2022, they had another race with a different flying car, but this time, there was no one inside; it was controlled remotely.
Now, they have displayed pictures of their new flying car, the Mk4, that will have people in it. It now features a whole new design, and it is about 18.79 feet long, 11.87 feet wide, 4.72 feet high, and weighs around 2,094 pounds.
The MK4 and the First EVTOL Manned Crew
Jack Withinshaw, who is the Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of the company, says that some of the biggest car companies we know today, like Ferrari, Ford, Renault, and Rolls Royce, started by racing their cars before making fancy ones for regular people. He explains that their main goal is to create new ways for people to travel in the air privately, and racing is just the first step toward that dream. So, it is much like racing helped kick start the car industry a long time ago.
Thus, Alauda Aeronautics is talking to several potential partners who make vehicles, like cars and aeroplanes, to work together on technology. The company is getting ready to do the first test flights with people in their Airspeeder Mk4 flying race car.
Even though the Airspeeder is built for a new kind of racing, Alauda has always seen it as a way to try out and test new technology. This includes making engines that are better for the environment and could change the way we get around in the future.
Now, while the Mk3 flying car was fully electric and ran on batteries, the Mk4 has something different under the hood. It has a powerful 1,000-kilowatt hydrogen engine, which is like having 1,340 horsepower, to charge up the batteries and make the motors go. They call this engine the Thunderstrike, and it is made in a special way using 3D printing, kind of like how they make rocket engines for space.
This special design keeps the engine from getting too hot and causing pollution. Technically, they plan to use ‘green’ hydrogen, which is environmentally friendly, as fuel to keep the Earth’s carbon footprint as low as possible.
The Airspeeder Mk4 can go from a complete stop to its maximum speed of 360 km/h (that’s about 224 mph) in just 30 seconds. It has four sets of protected rotors attached to special moving parts made with 3D printing. Additionally, it also features a smart computer that uses artificial intelligence to control the angles of the rotors for taking off and flying.
This means the Mk4 is not just super-fast in a straight line, but it can also make really precise moves, which is super important in close-up racing. It handles more like a fancy jet fighter or a speedy Formula 1 racing car than a regular drone.
Also, the Airspeeder Mk4 has a design that is a lot like a Formula 1 race car. It features a frame made of strong carbon fibre and has big air vents at the front and back, along with small wings in the middle of its body (rear wings). You can also spot cameras, sensors, and communication equipment attached to it.
In corroborating the news of this development is the statement of Withinshaw, the Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of the company. He avers that the Airspeeder Mk4 is the first flying race car that can carry people. Before this one, they had a Mk3, which couldn’t carry people and did more than 350 test flights. It covered 700 kilometres of an augmented reality race track, went as fast as 150 kilometres per hour, and even raced on a track at Lake Lochiel salt flats in South Australia.
He further advanced that to make all this happen, they had to build over 10 Mk3s and train a group of both male and female pilots. They also had to create all the things needed to keep three Airspeeders racing. This includes special race tracks in the sky, fast 5G internet connections, control systems for the races, systems for the pilots to control the vehicles, and lots of other tech features. According to him, “It is like a big system that is similar to what our future cities might need to have flying cars for regular travel”.
Matt Pearson also started the MK4 EVTOL project. He posited thus “We are all set for racing flying cars with human pilots, and we believe the world is ready too. We have created the vehicles, built the sport, arranged the places where races will happen, and gathered support from sponsors and tech partners. This is the moment for the most forward-thinking car companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and motorsport teams to join a completely groundbreaking new kind of motorsport. When we reveal the crewed Airspeeder Mk4, we are showing you the vehicles that talented pilots will fly in intense, close-quarters races.”
Conclusion
Conclusively, the Airspeeder Mk4 was proposed to be shown to the public for the first time at the Southstart Innovation Festival in Southern Australia on March 9. The company behind it, Alauda, has already started testing it for flight, and they are accepting entries from teams who want to compete in the crewed racing series. The first races in this flying car should take place in 2024.
