Airspeeder has just revealed the world’s first fully functioning electric flying racing car. The Airspeeder Mk3 is a full-sized remotely-operated electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL). It will compete in an upcoming remotely-piloted Airspeeder racing series that will stand as a technical test-bed and feeder series to a manned racing series in 2022. The unveiling of the vehicle represents the realisation of more than three years of development work to create a sport that will accelerate a new clean-air aerial mobility revolution.
A full grid of Mk3 electric flying race-craft is currently being manufactured at Airspeeder and Alauda’s technical headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia. The craft is being developed and manufactured by a team drawn from leading names in the aerospace, automotive and motorsport technology including Mclaren, Babcock Aviation, Boeing, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce and Brabham.
The Airspeeder Mk3 racing series will be announced in the coming months. These remotely-piloted races will present to the world for the first time close-quarter flying circuit racing at speeds of more than 75mph (120kph). Airspeeder’s first races will take place in 2021. Final behind-closed-doors pre-season tests will happen in Australia before the start of an international racing calendar. These landmark moments will make history in showing for the first time a full-scale vision of electric flying car racing.
The initial Mk3 races will provide vital information on vehicle dynamics, performance, safety and powertrain technology that will inform the final development of the manned Mk4 Airspeeder vehicle. Racing will play a vital role in hastening the arrival of eVTOL technologies which promise to revolutionise urban passenger mobility, logistics and even remote medical transport.
Both the remotely piloted Mk3 programme and manned Airspeeder Mk4 flying cars will provide a safe environment from where key innovations around safety, noise and batteries can be refined and fed into the wider development of an industry predicted by Morgan Stanley to be worth £1.1 trillion ($1.5 trillion/€1.2 trillion) by 2050.
Matt Pearson, Airspeeder founder, said: “The unveiling of the world’s first full-sized electric flying racing car is a landmark moment in the dawn of a new mobility revolution. It is competition that drives progress and our racing series is hastening the arrival of technology that will transform clean-air passenger transport, logistics and even advanced air mobility for medical applications. The world’s first electric flying car races will take place this year and will be the most exciting and progressive motorsport on the planet.”
A strategically important technical partnership has been forged with leading cyber-protection firm, Acronis, a significant backer of F1 and professional football. They join global logistics giant, DHL and leading money management firm, Equals, in backing a vision to hasten the dawn of a mobility revolution through sporting competition.
Airspeeder is a truly global sport. Its technical HQ is in Adelaide, Australia and commercial operations are run from London, England. This year will see growth in its existing presence in the UK through the creation of a full-time engineering base, a strategic decision made based on Britain’s standing as a technical and engineering powerhouse in motor-racing and advanced aerospace development. As the sport progresses through its development phases the company will look to draw upon this talent and create technical and engineering jobs.
Matt Pearson, Airspeeder founder, said: “Britain is a globally recognised centre of excellence in motorsports and aerospace. In creating a racing series that will accelerate a mobility revolution we will need to draw upon these skills. We are building an engineering base in Britain, the existing home of our Commercial HQ.”
“This will lead to the creation of highly skilled jobs and strategically important proximity to the rapidly growing eVTOL industry, a market predicted to be worth £1.1 trillion ($1.5 trillion/€1.2 trillion) by 2050.”
Airspeeder is built on the philosophy that nothing accelerates technical progress like sporting competition. The next-generation sport plays the same role the pioneers of Formula E have been doing in developing efficient non-polluting electric engines. The eVTOL sector is primed to transform urban aerial transport, global logistics and even remote medical transport with a clean-air, zero-emissions aerial transport solution.
