Airspeeder, a flying vehicle startup, has completed the “world’s first electric flying car race” in the South Australian outback. Even though the two competing pilots were guiding the two full-scale flying vehicles remotely, it was an incredible start to a totally new type of motorsport.
The actual flying vehicles are sleek 13-foot eVTOL machines dubbed Speeders, which are nearly completely comprised of carbon fibre. They are only 286 pounds in weight and can easily withstand the weight of a human pilot.
They can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 2.8 seconds and reach a maximum height of 1,600 feet thanks to its 320 kilowatt quadcopter powertrain.
This is merely the beginning; the inaugural race only hints at Airspeeder’s promise to create the most advanced, transformational, and entertaining motorsport in the world. The corporation is already planning crewed races, which might take place as early as next year. But there’s still a lot of work to be done to keep the pilots safe as they whip through the air at incredible speeds.
Airspeeder hopes to transform the tournament into a full-fledged Grand Prix league, which will begin in 2024. That is, of course, assuming everything goes as planned.
Reference- Airspeeder website & PR, The Driven, Electrive, Interesting Engineering, Futurism