Google co-founder Larry Page’s Kitty Hawk has revealed a prototype of its new Cora autonomous flying taxi.
It took around eight years for Kitty Hawk to design Cora, which is capable of taking off and landing vertically like a helicopter.
The 12-rotor electric aircraft has been designed to accommodate two passengers, with an 11m wingspan.
Cora can fly at up to 110mph for approximately 62 miles in one trip, at an altitude of up to 3,000ft.
Kitty Hawk is expected to start the regulatory approval process in New Zealand to obtain permission to launch the vehicle in the country.
Zephyr Airworks is the operator of Kitty Hawk in New Zealand. It has already conducted testing of Cora in the country.
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By GlobalDataNew Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) representative Dr Peter Crabtree said: “In New Zealand, we know we can’t keep using the same old approaches to meet our future challenges.
“We saw Cora’s potential as a sustainable, efficient and transformative technology that can enrich people’s lives, not only in New Zealand, but ultimately the whole world.”
Apart from MBIE, New Zealand’s Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are working together with Kitty Hawk on the certification and commercial launch of Cora.
Cora has previously secured an experimental airworthiness certificate from both the CAA and US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The vehicle is expected to receive official certification and is planned to be deployed in a commercial service within three years.
