Airspeeder (racing series)

Airspeeder is an electric flying vehicle racing series based in London, United Kingdom.[1] The aircraft use electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technology and are designed to be crewed by human pilots. The first remotely-piloted drag race between two Airspeeder craft took place in November 2021. A remotely-piloted racing series (Airspeeder EXA) began in 2022. Airspeeder craft (known as "Speeders") are manufactured by sister company, Alauda Aeronautics, based in Adelaide, Australia.

This article is about electric flying vehicle racing series. For the fictional Star Wars terrestrial vehicle, see Airspeeder.
Airspeeder
CategoryeVTOL air racing
CountryUnited Kingdom
(headquartered in London)
RegionGlobal
Inaugural season2022
ManufacturersAlauda Aeronautics
Official websiteairspeeder.com

History

The concept for a human-piloted, flying vehicle racing series was developed by Alauda Aeronautics CEO, Matt Pearson.[2] The company developed a prototype known as the Alauda Mark I Airspeeder over the course of two years in a warehouse in Sydney.[3] The craft, an eVTOL quadcopter, was debuted in December 2017.[2] A version of the Mark I was displayed at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.[4]

The Airspeeder Mk2, an updated quadcopter, took part in a remotely-piloted exhibition at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2019. Alauda also displayed the Airspeeder Mk4, an eight-rotor version of the vehicle, at the festival.[5] In April 2020, Airspeeder raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round led by Saltwater Capital, Jelix Ventures, Equals, and DHL.[6][7] Throughout this time, Airspeeder craft made frequent test runs which were documented on the Airspeeder YouTube channel.[8] Alauda also recruited United States Air Force pilots for some remote test flights. Test flights for the Mk4 were postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

In June 2021, a successful remote test flight of an Airspeeder Mk3 octocopter craft[10] took place in the South Australian desert.[11] It was the first successful test flight of a craft Alauda intended to use for racing.[12] The first remotely-piloted drag race between two Airspeeder craft took place again in the South Australian desert in November 2021.[13] Also in 2021, Airspeeder received additional funding from Telstra.[1] In January 2022, Airspeeder announced the first three pilots (Fabio Tischler, Emily Duggan, and Zephatali Walsh) who would remotely operate craft for the Airspeeder EXA series. The inaugural edition of the EXA series is planned to take place in 2022 and consist of three remotely-operated races in three different countries.[14]

Vehicles
An Mk3 Speeder in South Australia in 2021.

All Airspeeder craft (known as "Speeders") are manufactured by Alauda Aeronautics and are designed to be piloted both in the cockpit and remotely. All speeders use eVTOL technology. The Mk3 and Mk4 Airspeeder versions are designed for racing with eight propellers and a carbon-fiber composite body.[14][15] Each vehicle is also equipped with a collision avoidance system that uses lidar, radar, and machine vision to avoid in-air crashes.[7] Mk3 speeders are designed to be operated remotely while Mk4 speeders are intended to be flown with pilots in the cockpit.[16] Without pilots, the craft weigh around 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and can reach speeds of around 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour).[17] The speeders are powered by electric batteries that can provide 10 to 15 minutes of power. Batteries are intended to be replaced mid-race by pit crews.[7]

Race format

For the 2022 Airspeeder EXA Series, pilots will operate their speeders remotely using VR first-person view haptic suits. Although Airspeeder has yet to name racing locations,[14] it has previously targeted desert locales like Coober Pedy in South Australia or the Mojave Desert in the U.S. state of California.[18] Airspeeder has also noted that races could theoretically take place in any terrain on "sky tracks" that utilize augmented reality.[10] The series currently has three confirmed pilots, but Airspeeder plans on increasing that to five by the start of the season.[14]

References
  1. Doll, Scooter (November 4, 2021). "eVTOL racing? Airspeeder is bringing 'flying car' competitions to reality". Electrek. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  2. Hawkins, Andrew J. (December 11, 2017). "Flying cars don't exist yet, but one company already wants to race them in the desert". The Verge. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  3. Lieu, Johnny (December 14, 2017). "Behind the ambitious plan to build and race flying cars". Mashable. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  4. Mannix, Liam (March 23, 2018). "This Aussie startup wants to launch a flying car grand prix". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  5. Allen, James (July 2, 2019). "AIRSPEEDER FLYING RACING CAR CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF AT GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED". Driving. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  6. Borras, Jo (April 7, 2020). "It's Happening: Airspeeder Flying Car Company Gets Cash Infusion". Clean Technica. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  7. Alamalhodaei, Aria (June 17, 2021). "Airspeeder wants to make electric flying racing cars a reality in 2021". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  8. Richard, Mike (August 19, 2019). "Manned Flying Car Races Are Coming in 2022". The Manual. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  9. Meisenzahl, Mary (May 3, 2020). "A company that creates electric flying cars wants them to be the future of sports, and the first race could happen this year". Business Insider. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  10. Paukert, Chris (June 17, 2021). "Airspeeder eVTOL racing series makes historic first flight". CNET. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  11. Lu, Donna (June 17, 2021). "Flying electric car takes off in South Australian desert ahead of Formula One-style races". The Guardian. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  12. Lyons, Kim (June 20, 2021). "Airspeeder says it had the first successful test flight for its electric flying racecar". The Verge. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  13. Phillips, Sam (November 4, 2021). "Airspeeder flying cars face off in first race". Auto Car. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  14. Doll, Scooter (January 7, 2022). "Airspeeder announces the first-ever eVTOL racing pilots for its upcoming EXA Series". Electrek. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  15. Ridden, Paul (June 17, 2021). "Airspeeder flying race car takes to the air over South Australian desert". New Atlas. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  16. Ridden, Paul (February 4, 2021). "Alauda unveils full-sized Airspeeder Mk3 electric flying race car". New Atlas. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  17. Trinkwon, Will (February 4, 2021). "Airspeeder electric flying car race series is ready to take flight". Auto Car. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  18. Bliss, Dominic (June 9, 2020). "Airspeeder flying cars will be the F1 of the skies". GQ. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
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