China has officially entered the era of flying taxis. Two Chinese companies have obtained a commercial operation certificate for autonomous passenger drones from the CAAC.

[u/Vegetable-Mousse4405]

[u/Charming-Ad4156]

You get in it first

[u/Carrera_996 → u/Charming-Ad4156]

Nuh uh. Nope.

[u/AlanCarrOnline → u/Charming-Ad4156]

Not on April 1st I'm not ;)

[u/ProfessorFelix0812 → u/Charming-Ad4156]

Oh hell no.

[u/rhymes_w_garlic → u/Charming-Ad4156]

I'm in

[u/Different-Box-6853]

which companies?

[u/sneakerrepmafia → u/Different-Box-6853]

Archer and JOBY are at the forefront of

[u/chAmp33n → u/sneakerrepmafia]

Archer and JOBY are at the forefront until Chinese companies copy and scale the tech like they did EV’s. Then, Archer and JOBY stock prices will plummet.

[u/straightdge → u/chAmp33n]

Heard about eHang? The price of eHang is already a fraction of per unit cost of Joby. Not to mention there are others AutoFlight, Xpeng etc., US can't compete against Chinese supply chain.

[u/Krosis97 → u/chAmp33n]

You say it like its china's fault Tesla is plummeting and not the nazi man child it has as a CEO.

[u/BiasedLibrary → u/Krosis97]

I watched a video not so long ago about this and they really don't care about his fascist antics. But BYD electric vehicles are just 10x better for the chinese market. They're cheaper and they have more features. BYD vehicles can actually self-drive in China because it's adapted to their road networks, which Tesla just isn't. And the tariffs aren't helping Tesla gain any new customers abroad either. They would honestly have to sell their cars cheaper than BYD does to have any chance of competing, but they can't.

[u/straightdge → u/Different-Box-6853]

It clearly says in the video footage (eHang).

[u/Slothman_Allen]

Are these devices actually a viable service? I've seen some aviation people on Twitter shitting on them for ages that they have no use case and are basically garbage.

[u/lordmanatee → u/Slothman_Allen]

These are just fancy helicopters. There is no mission they can do that a normal helicopter can't. I guess the selling point is they're pilotless but the idea of being inside one when an electrical problem occurs with nobody on board that can do anything about it is terrifying.

[u/PerfectCelery6677 → u/lordmanatee]

Even if someone on board does know what to do depending on what happens, you're more than likely screwed. It's like trying to fix your car before it stops coasting.

[u/absolutely-possibly → u/PerfectCelery6677]

The bigger concern is the people on the ground. Even if you never fly in one, would you be okay with these operating above your home? Daily, hourly, every other minute?

[u/freakbutters → u/absolutely-possibly]

The ground is for poor people.

[u/Vipu2 → u/absolutely-possibly]

Would you be okay to have cars operating near your house every few seconds and not knowing when some lunatic cant handle theirs?

[u/ItsTheSlime → u/Vipu2]

Unless I missed a new Tesla update, cars dont fall from the sky yet

[u/tbrumleve → u/PerfectCelery6677]

Go watch a helicopter pilot land using autorotation when the engine fails. It’s like letting the car coast to a stop. All that’s required is an engine design that has a freewheeling unit that disengages any time the engine rotational speed is less than the rotor rotational speed.

[u/CallingInThicc → u/tbrumleve]

That's a great argument for the safety of helicopters.

Quadcopters cannot autorotate.

[u/Minirig355 → u/CallingInThicc]

Yeah I’m pretty sure this guy missed the lowering the collective (blade pitch) part of autorotation, since quadcopters are fixed pitch it’s not possible.

[u/Pinksters → u/CallingInThicc]

Exactly. The whole point of autorotation is using the drag/intertia of the massive rotor to slow decent.

The comparatively light and short quad-rotor+quad propeller system would not achieve the same results.

The design in this example has opposing dual rotors so I imagine that would be even less likely to help.

[u/SpecialBeginning6430 → u/lordmanatee]

These seem smaller, agile and are less complex than actually helis

[u/MarkEsmiths → u/SpecialBeginning6430]

Yeah but if a helicopter loses power you can auto rotate down. If these things lose power you are extra spicy fucked.

[u/ResortMain780 → u/MarkEsmiths]

Its much easier to build in redundancy in a multirotor with more than 6 motors. These seem to have 16.. You can lose several of those, and just keep on flying. You can probably land with just half of them and I bet they have at least two independent batteries for 2 sets of motors. On top of that, they usually have parachutes.

A regular helicopter has a long list of single points of failure. Its also much more complicated mechanically, and maintenance intensive.

[u/Unlikely-Answer → u/ResortMain780]

not to mention LOUD AF

[u/ToviGrande → u/Unlikely-Answer]

From what I've read the loudness of a helicopter is due to the extremely high blade tip velocity. Because these are far smaller diameter rotors they are much quieter. The noise of one of these flying cars is meant to be around the same as a regular car.

[u/Pinksters → u/ToviGrande]

the loudness of a helicopter is due to the extremely high blade tip velocity.

That and the pitch of the blades. The times you feel a deep thump in your chest from a heli is the most noticeable with a steep pitch.

These will be more of a really loud hum compared to a "whomp whomp whomp" of heli blades.

[u/cajun_vegeta → u/lordmanatee]

Parachutes on the drone will be an add-on purchase. Like Uber-Lux

[u/skypatina → u/lordmanatee]

This statement is probably very similar to statements made by horseriders back when the first cars came out.

[u/gellis12 → u/skypatina]

If the engine in your car craps out when you're driving, you coast for a bit, pull over to the side of the road, and you're safe. If the engine of your helicopter craps out while you're flying, you fall and die.

[u/absolutely-possibly → u/Slothman_Allen]

A new one comes out every year.

We already have flying cars. They're called airplanes. They're complicated, take special training to operate, and easily beat by road vehicles in a vast amount of use cases.

Stop with this Jetson's utopia. It only exists in fantasy.

[u/WillSym → u/absolutely-possibly]

I'm more concerned why the video has them mostly flying ominously in formation over coastlines...

[u/NDSU → u/absolutely-possibly]

Current aviation is almost exclusively used for long-distance travel. They're trying to use aviation for short distances

They're complicated, take special training to operate, and easily beat by road vehicles trains/busses in a vast amount of use cases

You could easily say the same thing of cars compared to trains or busses. Quadcopter travel would be terrible for society as a whole. They're energy inefficient, more expensive than other forms of transportation, are incredibly loud, and more dangerous than even cars

All problems cars have compared to other forms of transportation. Problem is the downsides are largely externalized to everyone else, so rich people will absolutely go for them

[u/Killentyme55 → u/absolutely-possibly]

It's nothing more than Tankie fodder. They love this "see how China has surpassed the West in every single way!" nonsense. They lap it up joyfully with no intention of actually seeing it work IRL.

[u/alien4649]

Cool idea. Not so cool when you experience terminal impact due to a malfunction, bird strike, bad weather, etc. Will they be equipped with parachutes? You aren’t gliding down in an emergency. And what happens when a person with nefarious intentions takes control?

[u/bloodfartcollector → u/alien4649]

And loud!, imagine them flying all over the place

[u/Roy4Pris → u/bloodfartcollector]

This.

Everyone freaking out about being in one. What about the people who aren't? You'd have to have neighbourhood curfews. And what about the people on that tropical beach having their holiday ruined by dozens of these things buzzing around?

No thanks.

[u/fromnochurch → u/Roy4Pris]

this and this

[u/Elegant-Raise-9367 → u/alien4649]

Honestly it's not much different risk than having a paint strip separating you from hundreds of poorly trained idiots with anger issues and the self preservation skills of a gerbil in poorly maintained vehicles travelling at 90mph in 2 tonnes of steel.

[u/InitialDay6670 → u/Elegant-Raise-9367]

well when im cruising on the highway and my engine goes out, I can rest assured knowing I wont fall to my death.

[u/jyunga → u/Elegant-Raise-9367]

Its drastically different.

[u/bandog → u/alien4649]

Do people think companies/engineers just make things up and not consider the downsides?

[u/jascgore → u/bandog]

Absolutely, particularly when its a downside that people external to the company must bear. In this case, the danger posed to people on the ground and in buildings. That's capitalism and why the FDA, FCC, EPA, and so many other agencies exist to act as an external cost for companies.

[u/SeveralAnteater292 → u/bandog]

Yes, this person is the first person to think of those obvious points and the engineers never thought about any of it

[u/sybban2 → u/alien4649]

Just make sure if the pilot has a long moustache, that they aren't twirling it and sneering. Should be good.

[u/JamIsBetterThanJelly]

Watch one of these land on a crowd of people and saw them in half.

[u/AwwwNuggetz → u/JamIsBetterThanJelly]

I would expect these would only takeoff and land from designating landing pads. Only way it would currently make sense

[u/blazurp → u/AwwwNuggetz]

Yea these taxis are for the wealthy. The places they need to go will have landing pads

[u/Moody_Prime → u/blazurp]

United airlines partnered with Archer Aviation to fly drone taxis from Chicago IMD to O'Hare Airport, they're supposed to start this year and it was supposed to cost $150 per trip. But that was reported two years ago, and there haven't really been any updates since then. So who knows when it'll start or how much it'll actually cost.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/3/23/23653147/united-electric-air-taxi-ohare-downtown

[u/Intelligent_Bison968 → u/AwwwNuggetz]

So like helicopters. They are just electric helicopters.

[u/Trypsach → u/Intelligent_Bison968]

Yeah. They’re fancy electric helicopters with a good PR budget. We have all sorts of services like this, they’re just only used by the rich, exactly like these will be.

We’ve even got ultralight single-person aircraft/helicopters that don’t need an aviation license (Mosquito XEL and even smaller home-brew stuff), again it’s just only for the fabulously wealthy or the incredibly tech-inclined (probably with a YouTube channel to fund it).

[u/Flaskhals51231 → u/Intelligent_Bison968]

Well autonomous is probably a bigger deal than electric in this case.

[u/Grimour → u/JamIsBetterThanJelly]

How often does this happen with helicopters? Because that's been the alternative so far.

[u/Mr-Plop]

It's kind of concerning those propellers are not guarded.

[u/HappyMonchichi → u/Mr-Plop]

Helicopter propellers aren't guarded either and I guess we all consider that normal.

[u/buhbye750 → u/HappyMonchichi]

You can walk to and enter a helicopter safely while the blades are spinning...

[u/ThisIsLukkas → u/buhbye750]

Cause they're safely above the hely where you can't hit them only if you really want to

[u/CommunalJellyRoll → u/ThisIsLukkas]

Not really. All sorts of accidents happen with people getting hit with rotors.

[u/Cry_in_the_shower → u/CommunalJellyRoll]

Especially as their slowing down.

[u/Radraider67 → u/ThisIsLukkas]

No. Main rotor blades can dip well below average head height. It is fairly uncommon, but not unheard of, for someone to not pay attention, and get ther brains ripped out by a blade.

[u/Stigbritt → u/HappyMonchichi]

Helicopter propellers aren't the same height as your dick for a convenient circumcision.

[u/Ok-Replacement-2738 → u/Stigbritt]

by tbe door as well!

[u/HappyMonchichi → u/Stigbritt]

Well if you consider it convenient, then what's the problem? 🤣

[u/bourj]

Who cares? We've got cars that drive themselves! Sort of. It's true! Most of the time!

[u/konstantin_gorca → u/bourj]

50% of the time...

[u/spdelope → u/konstantin_gorca]

The other 50% they blow themselves up

[u/ReplacementClear7122 → u/konstantin_gorca]

It definitely drove itself into the nearest pedestrian.

[u/s1rblaze → u/konstantin_gorca]

.. it works everytime?

[u/konstantin_gorca → u/s1rblaze]

Yeah ahahahahahhq

I was waiting for that answer

[u/Stompya → u/bourj]

The Chinese ones are apparently ahead there too …

https://www.reddit.com/r/climate/comments/1gx4hbv/chinese_electric_cars_are_leaving_the_us_in_the/

[u/TonArbre → u/Stompya]

Yeah, they’re ahead in every aspect.

[u/Statertater → u/bourj]

Waymo works pretty much every time. Tesla… not so much lol

[u/space-sage → u/Statertater]

I love Waymo. I will always pay extra to be alone, in a Jaguar, rather than in a strangers car

[u/Vert_DaFerk → u/bourj]

All cars have been able to drive themselves. The aftermath (or lack of) is the only thing that changes.

[u/Deep_Seas_QA]

Too bad the US has instead decided to go back 100 years instead of forward.. We can’t even have high speed trains because they are too woke or something?

[u/Conscious_Trainer549 → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

High speed trains? I'd just be happy if they brought back the intercity commuter from 100 years ago.

[u/Mr-Plop → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

A month ago people were shooting at the NJ drones, can't wait to see how this would work out

[u/X-RAY777 → u/Mr-Plop]

Was that only a month? JFC. Can it be 2028 already

[u/shmiddleedee → u/X-RAY777]

2028? You mean the beginning of trumps 3rd term? I'm worried this nightmare doesn't just end in 4 years. It's gone to far already.

[u/raikou1988 → u/X-RAY777]

Lmaooo like theres going to be any elections in 2028 . Thanks for that laugh this morning

[u/Ok-Disk-2191 → u/Mr-Plop]

Well at least china has tough gun laws.

[u/Gary_the_metrosexual → u/Ok-Disk-2191]

But not so tough safety laws....

[u/MagnaFumigans → u/Gary_the_metrosexual]

What’s OSHA

[u/HiBob-HiBob → u/MagnaFumigans]

OSHA hu?

[u/Silent_fart_smell → u/MagnaFumigans]

They say, ”oh shit”. Not OSha.

[u/RandomPenquin1337 → u/Mr-Plop]

Them gottdam aliens and/or foreigners aka aliens.

[u/trailsman → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

China is going to crush us in all of these areas. EV's & EVOTLs (a byproduct of battery capacity & cheapness), renewables & energy storage (they are going to bring the marginal cost for electricity to essentially zero), and lots of tech areas. We created the perfect monster trying to cut China off & spread the fear mongering campaign against them. They are centrally planned, when they decide to set a new 5 year plan they move with scale we cannot comprehend. And meanwhile we're here at the whims of a lunatic leader, based off today's "greatest idea" and the constant corporate influence that does nothing to get us ahead and protects legacy businesses and monopolies.

[u/Deep_Seas_QA → u/trailsman]

100% it's so sad.. And for what? Ego? Spite? The dead dreams of old men to manufacture gas powered cars in the states again..? "America first" is going to make America last. We won't even have cutting edge science or medical research anymore. It sure looks bleak at the moment.

[u/trailsman → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

I don't know what subreddit it was posted on today but a survey of scientists & researchers, 75% said they were thinking about leaving the US given the cuts in funding. If we continue down this stupid road the brain drain is going to be massive, to the benefit of every other country who will accept them with open arms. The long run costs of the shenanigans of a few lunatics, under the guise of efficiency, and tax cuts for the absurdly wealthy is going to be unfathomable.

[u/thelangosta → u/trailsman]

The U.S. doesn’t even know what long term planning looks like. We can’t agree on a budget to fund the government for a few months at a time. It’s so frustrating

[u/No_Atmosphere8146 → u/trailsman]

China don't even have to do R&D since US companies happily send the schematics of their cutting edge tech directly to China for manufacturing.

[u/Decisionspersonal → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

That isn’t why we can’t build them. Ask California why they can’t build it? They’ve even put forth plenty of money!

[u/Muffin_Appropriate → u/Decisionspersonal]

It’s called lobbyists.

[u/Babys_For_Breakfast → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

Yeah I wish they would finally get the ball rolling for that high speed rail in Cali.

[u/Vegas_FIREd → u/Babys_For_Breakfast]

They need to do a study first to see if doing a study on the latest consultant report will cause cancer

[u/SkellySkeletor → u/Vegas_FIREd]

The sheer amount of life changing infrastructure and developments that have been completely shelved due to environmental review is going to be studied extensively in the future.

[u/alecww3 → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

The Chinese propaganda is taking over my god

[u/Aznhalfbloodz → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

It's the automobile industry that is preventing this from happening, unfortunately. Old laws and policies are preventing progress.

[u/UnpaidSmallPenisMod → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

Idk California has apparently spent billions of dollars to produce a high speed rail. They haven’t built a single train yet, where’s the money going?

[u/whatanerdiam → u/Deep_Seas_QA]

China is leaving the rest of the world behind. China will be the world's superpower. It will no longer be the U.S.

[u/ghsteo → u/[deleted]]

They get Cyberpunk, USA gets Idiocracy, least they're going to have cool shit.

[u/Vivid_Barracuda_ → u/ghsteo]

USA has magic computers making money out of thin air woohoo 💯!!!!

[u/Socks-and-Jocks → u/Vivid_Barracuda_]

Correction. Making thin air our of thin air and calling it money

[u/MechanicalTurkish → u/Vivid_Barracuda_]

Computers have crypto. It’s what tech bros crave.

[u/BobaHuttIII → u/ghsteo]

At least we get ✨electrolytes✨

[u/ergonomic_logic → u/[deleted]]

If you haven't seen the Chinese city of Chongqing, look it up. It's straight up cyberpunk!

[u/Commercial-Web6806 → u/ergonomic_logic]

I've lived there before. Sure lights look cool but that barely counts for anything. If anything, I'd say the public transport is the number 1 attraction. You can get anywhere you want for less than a quid, or completely free if you're over a certain age.

[u/Ok-Replacement-2738 → u/[deleted]]

Like i get what you're saying but this is verymuch just cyber-topic not really utopia or dystopia, i think freedom to fly is just a innate resolut of technological and economical advancements.

other things like forced organ harvesting, that's dystopic.

[u/Betancorea → u/[deleted]]

Flying Taxis suddenly = CYBERPUNK DYSTOPIA!!!

[u/PHANTOM________ → u/[deleted]]

I’d rather have flying taxis than a trade war for no reason with our closest ally. Oh well.

[u/uselessmindset]

This is really cool. Also, kinda scary. If there is a taxi version, I imagine there is a weaponized version, and anyone that know the fpv drone hobby or has seen them fly know that they are agile as heck. Scary thought.

Personally, I would enjoy flying one of these. Especially so a militarized version. There would definitely be some neat features I’m sure aside from the weapons system.

[u/Charmle_H → u/uselessmindset]

Just look at r/noncredibledefense . They talk about whacky shit with drones all the time. They've been undergoing the same changes & uses as airplanes did back in WW1&2 over the past couple years, it's fascinating

[u/tom444999 → u/Charmle_H]

Wrong time to mention NCD, they are in their french era right now

[u/backstageninja → u/tom444999]

Idk, seems like the right time to mention them then

[u/supercyberlurker → u/uselessmindset]

Imagine tens of thousands of these flying ultra-low into Taiwan.

[u/akolomf → u/supercyberlurker]

They would be pretty similar to how ww2 planes worked, just easier regarding takeoff and landing + pilots need fewer training. Issue is, I doubt they'd work well in bad weather conditions and are slightly less robust than ww2 planes. I would never consider using these as a taxi, they look more like death traps.(Except maybe under perfect weather conditions) would be better to just use them unmanned as airsupport during war

[u/Prestigious-Mess5485 → u/akolomf]

Even small arms fire would tear these up. They need to be as light as possible. No way to make them armored.

[u/akolomf → u/Prestigious-Mess5485]

Yeah so their main aspect would be speed and maneuverability, which kinda makes the pilot the limiting factor due to increased weight and limited exposure to g-forces in such a vehicle. Soo yeah there'd be no point to have people inside those things when using them in a war, unless the drones are susceptible to jamming.

[u/Prestigious-Mess5485 → u/akolomf]

These things do not look fast or maneuverable....

[u/dxiao → u/supercyberlurker]

carrier has arrived

[u/PastaRunner]

The fact that shit like this gets posted and upvoted is wild.

They’re helicopters guys. Not “flying taxis” just helicopters. Does that sound loud and expensive? Because it is.

Does that sound viable and actually happening? Because it’s not.

ETA: Guys, it literally is a helicopter. "a type of aircraft which derives both lift and propulsion from one or more sets of horizontally revolving rotors." That's what we saw in the video. A helicopter. A drone is defined by being an unmanned aircraft. These are proporting to be "taxi's". What do you think they are taxi'ing.

Do you think if you wanted to rent a helicopter for you to go to work each morning, that would be irrationally expensive? Probably 3-4 orders of magnitude more expensive than a car? So what makes you think they're going to bring this down to be, for example, only 1% that cost? Which would of course still be 10x more expensive than the car equivalent.

I can't believe this post is getting upvoted but I am dumbfounded by the idiots actually going to bat for it.

[u/Lyzern → u/PastaRunner]

Yeah nice try hater! The other day I rode a flying train. It had some kind of wings on the side for gliding and huge motors to fly.

The future is now!!

[u/harugane → u/Lyzern]

An Air bus of some sort?

[u/NotTooSuspicious → u/harugane]

No dude, that's just silly...

[u/hugosince1999 → u/PastaRunner]

They don't have pilots in them, unlike real helicopters.

[u/Koakie → u/PastaRunner]

All these videos of passengers drones always come with a soundtrack and they cut the actual sound.

https://youtu.be/76UesDRC5dg?si=XjIMtSESJK3PB57D

Skip to 1:30.

Now imagine some 2040 dystopian city, and there are thousands of these in the air buzzing around 24/7.

[u/poilk91 → u/Koakie]

Finally someone points it out. These would make living in a city hell they just aren't worth it to operate any thing like a "taxi" just a cheaper helicopter

[u/BrilliantHeavy → u/poilk91]

Im pretty sure you take the train living in a city. This is probably more for flying across large rural areas. China is huge and has a fuckton of farmland and ritual towns, makes sense you wouldn’t want to drive 10 hours to go visit your grandmother in her podunk village

[u/kwyk → u/PastaRunner]

Food delivery in China has been fully autonomous by drone for a while now. This is probably happening…

[u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo → u/PastaRunner]

Helicopter :

Helicopter, China : flying taxi

[u/CantAffordzUsername]

What could go wrong?

[u/woodenmetalman → u/CantAffordzUsername]

I think a lot of ppl in the US don’t realize just how far ahead China has leaped technologically while we’ve been arguing about abortions, which bathrooms people should be using and just how rich we should let people get on the backs of the rest of us.

[u/unclepaprika → u/woodenmetalman]

Hmm, it's almost like that metaphor. Something about foot and a shot. Can't quite piece it together tho, weirdly. 🤷

[u/Unusual-Weird-4602 → u/unclepaprika]

Must be that American education

[u/realityunderfire → u/woodenmetalman]

No kidding. While we’ve been arguing over junk science and identity politics, whether or not to capitalize White and Black other countries have been gaining education and investing in the future. We are screwed.

[u/voyagertoo → u/woodenmetalman]

they're not. most of it is fake, just like this video. none of that was irl footage. why not if they are so far... blah blah blah

[u/Neinstein14 → u/woodenmetalman]

It’s easy to do such technological leaps if you’re less interested in safety and proper regulations.

USA companies have the technology for this also, but in the West we don’t like to risk lives by pushing out aviation tech that is immature and not tested extensively.

Whether that testing could be expedited by reducing bureaucracy while keeping the safety is another question. But it’s not like China is so ahead, they just have a different focus and more willing to take a risk.

Debate over one topic, useless or not, does not necessarily have to hinder the progress of another topic.

[u/FuzzeWuzze → u/CantAffordzUsername]

I mean, everything? Nothing?

The same could have been, and probably was said about cars, trains, and airplanes when they were new.

[u/Demigans → u/FuzzeWuzze]

Difference being that there was years and years more development, trial and above all error before it saw widespread use inside cities.

Now they first use basically upscaled drone tech alongside autonomous guidance simultaneously? I'd wait a few years.

[u/Sents-2-b → u/CantAffordzUsername]

I.mean they are caac certified

[u/My_advice_is_opinion → u/CantAffordzUsername]

This is almost as stupid as traveling 60mph in a aluminum box, while other people travel 60mph in the opposite direction 10ft away only separated by a painted line

[u/Radiant_Actuary7325 → u/CantAffordzUsername]

They have emergency chutes so not as much as you would think

[u/RAH7719 → u/CantAffordzUsername]

Shhhh.... don't tell them. The more people fly the roads will be clear for us - the joy and passion of driving-yourself will go on!

[u/SoberWill → u/RAH7719]

I can see initially the culling of many rich influencers

[u/RAH7719 → u/SoberWill]

Why I won't fly in anything autonomous unless there is a pilot risking their life alongside mine.

[u/ajibtunes → u/RAH7719]

Not when they be falling from the sky

[u/hanimal16 → u/RAH7719]

Until one falls on your car while you’re driving.

[u/RAH7719 → u/hanimal16]

No where will be safe.... they will fall anywhere

[u/CrimsonBolt33]

God these titles are fucking insufferable...

No China hasn't

You people love to shoot the propoganda straight into your veins and accept it all as fact.

It's literally an advertisement video with a title making a claim that can't be verified.

[u/aminervia]

Lol loud music in the video covers how deafening these things must be.

Why are there constantly all these videos of "This is how China does things!" And it's always these flashy and totally impractical prototypes that will never make it into actual use there

[u/shakamaboom]

It's April fools today

[u/Royal-Insurance-7534]

The noise and light pollution from these things is going to massively suck for everyone in the vicinity they operate.

[u/Trollimperator]

Good, now we will see, if thats just another investment hype or if thats something useful in a costs vs value kind of way.

[u/holy_battle_pope]

They can't build a fucking building, i wouldn't trust a flying toilet

[u/dillanthumous]

Hmmm. The frequency of regular helicopter crashes means, I'm out.

[u/KarisNemek161]

rich people toys

just imagine the energy needed to lift a few persons to get from A to B. Wasteful

[u/LosttheWay79]

6 unprotected propellers at knee-high level cant be a good idea. Also, why these videos never have the audio of the flight? its always some generic music to cover up how loud this thing is.

[u/Solid_Noise5681]

No more birds where these exist.

[u/wafflepiezz]

America is truly falling behind other countries.

You guys make fun of this, but what if it actually becomes a viable product and form of transportation?

[u/Specific_Mud_64]

Dont buy into chinese propaganda, folks

[u/SmokeClad]

Promo Director: "Okay now lets get some shots of you guys actually using it in the air"

Guy who made them: "WHOA! Now hold on there"

[u/NoDoze-]

This would be terrifying! There is no way to survive a crash.

[u/daviddm23]

No

[u/Consistent_Device567]

Seems to be a lot of Chinese propaganda on here recently.

[u/Direct-Chef-9428]

Oh hell no

[u/Medical_Flower2568]

We have already had these for 70 years

They are called helicopters

[u/bmw3393]

What!?!? Now kidnappers and traffickers can work from home, but I gotta be in the office

[u/Convenientjellybean]

I hope that’s not the inflight music

[u/SadMap7915]

Nope.

[u/tzippora]

Soon, you won't know if the sky is blue.

[u/brothbike]

high security risk

[u/surfingforlaugh]

Helicopter are already very loud, i cant imagine 30-50 of this flying nearby every day

[u/Regret-Select]

Do these have an emergency parachute & backup? Would suck if systems failed, but a mechanical safety option like a parachute + backup would be nice if that's possible

[u/Captain_Jarmi]

Just a helicopter with smaller rotors. Nothing new.

[u/angle58]

Oh look, flying coffins.

[u/lurkernotuntilnow]

"taxis"

[u/Rossasaurus_]

People seem to forget the sound drones make.

The sound of a human transport drone would be cacophonous. Hundreds in a city would be unbearable.

It's a horrible idea. Same thing with drone delivery of packages.

[u/Humicrobe]

Totally never going to hit a bird...

[u/supreme_rain]

I wonder if people will be excited to find if they will be the first victim of flying taxi accident.

[u/The_Doog_s]

There’s no fucking way I’m getting in one of those.

[u/arachnobravia]

How's the additional noise pollution going to be mitigated? Drones are bad enough, helicopters are horrible- These would be literally the worst.

I support the use of these for emergency vehicles. I do not support them for private/rich people to get around for funzies.

[u/Mo_Jack]

great now we are all going to have to act as walking airbags for the wealthy, when they start falling out of the skies. They will force us to buy our own insurance.

[u/Knuffeltrut]

I dont mind people testrunning these things :)

[u/Mobile-Breakfast8973]

Noice-pollution incomming

[u/[deleted]]

I'd ride in one to my funeral, that's about it.

[u/TamaktiJunVision]

Westworld

[u/alex7071]

And if they start falling from the sky you can start singing: "It's raining men, hallelujah!"

[u/Low_Dragonfruit8779]

Didn't Dubai do it first?

[u/switch495]

The Chinese are well known for their skilled drivers and strict adherence to traffic law... flying taxis can only be a good idea.

[u/navetzz]

There already is taxi helicopter in some places (at the very least from Nice to Monaco)

[u/TobyJames2020]

Brought to you by Aprils Fools INC.

[u/CowVisible3973]

I love how Reddit buys into China's propoganda more than the Chinese people themselves.

Yeesh, variants of this tech have existed for a while. Putting aside the monumental technical challenges, you'd still have a huge amount of non-technical challenges in getting these into common use (infrastructure, safety standards, insurance, viable economic models, etc.)

For example, if you go to Beijing you will not see helicopters for reasons having to do with decades old security policy. Changing that policy to allow for autonomous passenger drones would require a tremendous amount of political will. And the fear that someone would hack this thing and turn it into a missile targeting Zhongnanhai would probably be a nonstarter.

[u/upbeatmusicascoffee]

How does this work air-traffic wise?

[u/-MdewMakesMeHard-]

This sub isn’t even hiding the fact that it posts CCP propaganda.