Pooja Priyadharshini. K, INN/Chennai, @PJ_pOoJa_k

Traffic snarls often become the reason for many of us to worry. This is one of the points one can never ignore if they are residing in a metropolis, for the density of vehicular movement determines how quickly one can reach any locality.

The days of worrying over traffic snarls could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to electric flying taxis which are known as E-Taxi. E-Plane, a startup company from IIT Madras has designed E-Taxi.

Just board the taxi and it would be fly you to your destination, as one is in the air, the traffic on the ground will likely not be a hassle. Professor Satyachakravarthy is the head of the project involving the design of the flying taxi.

‘The taxi will have two variants – cargo and intra-city commute,’ said Professor Satyachakravarthy. The cargo variant will be for military and inter-industry uses, and the intra-city commute is for moving passengers within a city, he said.

The travelling cost may be twice as much as the existing road-based vehicles like ola, Uber, and others, but it helps you reach your destination earlier and reduces the traffic time, he said.

This plane is powered by lithium-ion batteries, will have vertical takeoff and landing, and will be operated by a pilot. Once fully charged, it can run up to 200 km. This flying taxi can be parked in 25 square metres of space.

This 200 kg E-VTOL electric flying taxi has four duct fans mounted in the propeller. It is 10 times faster than a road-based vehicle like a taxi and has a 160 kph cruise speed and a top speed of 200 kph. It can carry two people, including a pilot, and 200 kg of luggage.

The prototype of this e-taxi is said to be launched by the end of this year or early in 2024, and it will take nearly two years to finish the permission and certification processes.

By royret