Aussie electric car flies, racing starts within months

An electric flying car developed in Australia has been tested for the first time.

The Alauda Aeronautics Mk3 octocopter is described as the world’s first performance electric eVTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing).

It tested recently at an undisclosed location in the South Australian desert. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has confirmed it oversaw the test.

Up to 10 examples will be remotely piloted in a three-race series dubbed Airspeeder EXA due to kick off within months.

That is a warm-up for 2022 when the next-spec Alauda Mk4 is expected to be manned by pilots and raced in a global Airspeeder series.

Alauda Aeronautics and Airspeeder are sister companies founded by Sydney entrepreneur Matt Pearson.

The research and development component of the business is in Adelaide, while the commercial centre is in London, closer to motorsport’s global epicentre.

Pearson believes eVTOL racing will speed the development of the technology. Morgan Stanley estimates it could be worth US$1.5 trillion ($2.0 trillion) by 2040.

The Alauda Mk3 is about four metres long, built around a carbon-fibre structure, produces a maximum 320kW, weighs 130kg and accelerates from 0-100km/h in only 2.8 seconds.

It is claimed to have F1-like 5G turning capability and a weight-to-thrust ratio nearly three times better than an F-15E Strike Eagle jet fighter. Top speed is up to 250km/h.

Each Alauda Mk3 is powered by a lithium polymer battery with a battery life of about 15 minutes of flying. Each race will last 45 minutes, requiring two pit stops for battery swaps, a process that takes about 20 seconds each.

Alauda claims it has developed a series of new technologies including a virtual forcefield around the vehicle using Lidar and radar to ensure no collisions during races.

Each Airspeeder EXA series event will compromise up to four teams with two remote pilots per vehicle. These pilots will be men and women and drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds including eSports. They are likely to graduate to the manned Airspeeder series.