Mexican Media Brands
Bell Unveils Flying Taxi
Textron Inc.’s Bell Helicopter unit took the wraps off a full-scale vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) air taxi concept at this week’s CES electronics show in Las Vegas.
#electronics
Share
Textron Inc.’s Bell Helicopter unit took the wraps off a full-scale vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) air taxi concept at this week’s CES electronics show in Las Vegas.
Dubbed the Bell Nexus, the aircraft is powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system with six ducted fans that tilt to horizontal and vertical orientation for takeoff/landing and forward flight.
Bell, which took the lead on the design of the vehicle, is partnering with several tech companies on the project. Safran developed the hybrid propulsion technology—repurposing a gas turbine to operate as a generator—and EPS is providing the energy storage systems.
Garmin will integrate the avionics and the vehicle management computer. Other partners include Thales (flight control computer hardware and software) and Moog (flight control actuation).
Bell says the Nexus can comfortably seat four passengers and a pilot. Flying range is estimated at 150 miles.
The company aims to conduct test flights in early 2020 and launch commercial applications sometime later. Bell also is working with Uber Technologies Inc., which is developing its own flying taxi fleet early next decade.
RELATED CONTENT
-
On Military Trucks, Euro Car Sales, Mazda Drops and More
Did you know Mack is making military dump trucks from commercial vehicles or that Ford tied with Daimler in Euro vehicle sales or the Mazda6 is soon to be a thing of the past or Alexa can be more readily integrated or about Honda’s new EV strategy? All that and more are found here.
-
Honda Re-Imagines and Re-Engineers the Ridgeline
When Honda announced the first-generation Ridgeline in 2005, it opened the press release describing the vehicle: “The Honda Ridgeline re-defines what a truck can be with its true half-ton bed payload capability, an interior similar to a full-size truck and the exterior length of a compact truck.” And all that said, people simply couldn’t get over the way there is a diagonal piece, a sail-shaped buttress, between the cab and the box.
-
GM Develops a New Electrical Platform
GM engineers create a better electrical architecture that can handle the ever-increasing needs of vehicle systems
