airspeeder, the world’s first flying racing car makes historic first flights

in the summer of 2019, matthew pearson, founder of airspeeder and alauda aeronautics, unveiled a single-seat electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL) with the hopes of initiating a sort of formula one for flying cars. his mission was informed by the role racing historically played in accelerating the development of both ground and air mobility. three years later, pearson and his team have made history through the first flights of the full-scale electric flying racing car, the remotely-piloted alauda mk3. 

images by airspeeder

‘the alauda aeronautics mk3 is the world’s first performance eVTOL craft,’ said matthew pearson, founder, airspeeder and alauda aeronautics. ’it is the result of the very best minds working with focus to accelerate a mobility revolution. racing will take this a step further and we cannot wait to compete with elite teams to show the world the dynamic potential of these incredible performance race-craft.’

the first flights took place at undisclosed test locations in the deserts of south australia under the observation of australia’s civil aviation safety authority (CASA). the successful execution of these flights means that unscrewed electric flying car grand prixs will take place in 2021 at three soon-to-be-revealed international locations. the races will see elite pilots remotely pilot the world’s only eVTOL via electronically governed, augmented reality enabled sky-tracks. audiences will watch via digital streams that show the full dynamic potential of vehicles that have greater thrust-to-weight ration than a F15 fighter jet.

‘nothing drives innovation like racing,’ pearsons continued. ‘the world is ready for advanced air mobility and we are proud to make history by introducing the world’s first racing series for flying electric cars. airspeeder and EXA represent the future of motorsport and a compelling and exhilarating showcase of the potential of electric flying cars as this generation’s defining mobility revolution.’

by creating the world’s first racing series for electric flying cars, alauda aeronautics takes a leadership position in this generation’s defining mobility revolution. it does this by providing a place and a space to rapidly accelerate the development of the key safety, performance and dynamics technologies that will underpin the growth of eVTOL transportation.

project info

company: alauda

model: airspeeder mark 1