In this episode, a vertical-takeoff plane to transform transport. This is your Manufacturing Minute.
Joby Aviation is developing a two-seat airplane that it hopes will revolutionize transportation.
The electric fixed-wing S2 can take off and land vertically, so it needs no runway.
The plane has a total of 16 propellers. When it reaches cruising altitudes, 12 propellers aerodynamically fold away and four propulsion propellers take over.
Promising to be five times faster and use five times less energy than conventional cars, the S2 can speed up to 200 miles per hour and travel up to 200 miles.
Just in case, there is also a 45-minute battery reserve.
The plane is still in development and has yet to undergo flight tests, but it’s forecast to cost about $200,000.
So, What Do You Think?
Should personal transportation take to the skies instead of the streets? What problems do you see with this design?
Email us or leave your comments below.
That’s all the time we have for today, but tune in every weekday for your next Manufacturing Minute.