New Zealand starts test with fully electric autonomous flight taxis

The company Kitty Hawk, which is funded by Google co-founder Larry Page, has partnered with the New Zealand government to test its autonomous flying taxis. The electric planes bear the name Cora. It is still a prototype.

The New York Times reports that an official certification process is underway, which should lead to a commercial network of flying taxis in New Zealand within a period of three years. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the newspaper in an email that the all-electric planes fit the country’s goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. According to the paper, Kitty Hawk had been present in New Zealand under the name Zephyr Airworks since 2016 and was in talks with regulators. The company says in a statement that the Cora aircraft is the result of eight years of work.

An overview of the specifications of the Cora prototype states that it is suitable for two people and that it is able to land and take off vertically. The maximum speed is 180 km/h and a range of about 100 km is possible. The aircraft is intended to operate at an altitude between 150 and 900 meters. Kitty Hawk has published a video showing Cora in action.

Kitty Hawk’s CEO is Sebastian Thrun, who was responsible for founding Google X’s research division and the self-driving car team at Google. According to The New York Times, the company is funded by Google co-founder Larry Page, who is currently the CEO of Google parent company Alphabet.