Electric air racing only takes a significant forward step. Verge reports that AirSpeeder recently completed the first test flight for its electric flying racing car, Alauda Aeronautics MK3. A long-distance pilot flew the version of the Evtol aircraft that was not printed in South Australia with the country’s civil aviation safety authority overseeing the test.
The machine can reach a height of up to 1,640 feet and reach 62mph in 2.8 seconds. Remote pilots fly in an environment such as cockpit through virtual courses, with lidar and radar helps prevent collisions. Most importantly, the design is intended to minimize stopping. While airsspeeder racers can only fly up to 15 minutes at a cost, the team can exchange batteries in just 20 seconds.
Flight tests clear the path for the EXA Exa Event racing series, starting in 2021, which will display up to four teams with their two pilots. Data from these competitions, including the Dummy “tele-robotic” avatar in the cockpit, ideally will lead to races that are in a human being directly in 2022.
Airspeeder will still deal with many electrical flight challenges, including short-lived batteries. All the same, this test and the next race shows EV air races quickly becomes practical. This might be more a question about perfecting technology rather than putting it into the sky in the first place.
