FACED with too many regulatory hurdles making drone taxis with Uber Technologies, Ivo Boscarol has instead decided to build freighter drones in China, reports Bloomberg.
Mr Boscarol's slovenian company Pipistrel says this approach is less daunting from a technical, safety and regulatory standpoint than shuttling live passengers across dense US cities in electric vertical takeoff-and-landing craft.
Mr Boscarol's e-plane maker Pipistrel, saw prospects of his three-year partnership with Uber fade away last year.
'We're using the structure and propulsion concept of the urban taxi to enter a cargo market that has fewer restrictions,' said Mr Boscarol. 'It's an opportunity to capitalise on our development.'
Pipistrel began as a hang-glider maker in 1989, and managed a feat that hasn't been accomplished with any other fully electric aircraft.
Last June, Pipistrel's two-seat Velis Electro and its E-811 engine won worldwide type-certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Orders have included a 50-plane deal from France's Green Aerolease, which supplies trainer planes to pilot schools.
April's deal in China, which has begun to license cargo drones, will see Pipistrel customise its Nuuva V300 model equipped with same electric motor in a venture with Shenzhen's SF Express, the country's biggest courier firm.
SF says it may need 1,000 such craft over the next decade, set to be built at a plant 120 miles east of Shanghai. The factory has been planned since 2016, originally to make non-cargo models.
'We would've started production by now if it weren't for the pandemic,' Mr Boscarol said.
The cargo drone will be powered by eight of the E-811 rotors originally built for the Uber air taxis. It's targeted to carry a 300-kilogramme (660-pound) payload for 300 miles, with an internal combustion engine powering a rear-mounted propeller for cruise flight.
The model should have its first flight early in 2022 and enter production in 2023, he said.
Pipistrel also makes extreme-endurance surveillance aircraft and aims to develop a 19-seat regional plane powered by hydrogen fuel cells and able to operate from a landing strip of just 400 metres (1,300 feet).
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Mr Boscarol's slovenian company Pipistrel says this approach is less daunting from a technical, safety and regulatory standpoint than shuttling live passengers across dense US cities in electric vertical takeoff-and-landing craft.
Mr Boscarol's e-plane maker Pipistrel, saw prospects of his three-year partnership with Uber fade away last year.
'We're using the structure and propulsion concept of the urban taxi to enter a cargo market that has fewer restrictions,' said Mr Boscarol. 'It's an opportunity to capitalise on our development.'
Pipistrel began as a hang-glider maker in 1989, and managed a feat that hasn't been accomplished with any other fully electric aircraft.
Last June, Pipistrel's two-seat Velis Electro and its E-811 engine won worldwide type-certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Orders have included a 50-plane deal from France's Green Aerolease, which supplies trainer planes to pilot schools.
April's deal in China, which has begun to license cargo drones, will see Pipistrel customise its Nuuva V300 model equipped with same electric motor in a venture with Shenzhen's SF Express, the country's biggest courier firm.
SF says it may need 1,000 such craft over the next decade, set to be built at a plant 120 miles east of Shanghai. The factory has been planned since 2016, originally to make non-cargo models.
'We would've started production by now if it weren't for the pandemic,' Mr Boscarol said.
The cargo drone will be powered by eight of the E-811 rotors originally built for the Uber air taxis. It's targeted to carry a 300-kilogramme (660-pound) payload for 300 miles, with an internal combustion engine powering a rear-mounted propeller for cruise flight.
The model should have its first flight early in 2022 and enter production in 2023, he said.
Pipistrel also makes extreme-endurance surveillance aircraft and aims to develop a 19-seat regional plane powered by hydrogen fuel cells and able to operate from a landing strip of just 400 metres (1,300 feet).
SeaNews Turkey
