Chennai: A five-minute journey from Adyar to T Nagar, from one rooftop to another, is no more science fiction, thanks to the flying taxis being built by a team of innovators at IIT-Madras.The brainchild of IIT-M aerospace professor Satya Chakravarthy, who founded the National Centre for Combustion Research & Development, and IIT-M student (2019 batch) Pranjal Mehta have been designing and building electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) planes for door-to-door commute within cities at a price point on a par with road taxis. They hope to fly by 2024, if the government allows it.
The ePlane is a two-seater that can carry 200kg for 200km, flying over traffic. It can make city commute ten times faster at just 1.5 times the taxi fare. All you need is a 4x4 space to take off and land. Chakravarthy, who has paused teaching to turn full-time CTO with ePlane, says their eVTOL uses both rotors and wings and can "take off like a drone and fly like a plane."
Mehta says they decided to focus on an intra-city model, given the range of electric mobility and the traffic problem in the 5km-20km range.
With the government framing rules for cargo delivery using drones, the team is conducting trials for a smaller version of the aircraft with a 6kg payload (e6) that will be ready in six to nine months. The government move on drones has enthused the startup, which says Indian regulators have shown high levels of willingness and openness. The team anticipates an early 2024 launch of the e200 air taxi.
"If the government here works in tandem with startups in this sector, it is likely that India and we at ePlane will have the first flying taxi take off sooner than in other global markets. We are optimistic with the government’s recent announcements around drone transport," Mehta said.
Despite years of development and billions in venture funding, most global flying taxi players haven’t commercialised yet because of regulatory constraints. The government of India is backing the use of drones for last-mile delivery and has increased the payload of drones from 300kg to 500kg.
08/11/21 Sindhu Hariharan/Times of India
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