Universal expositions or World Fairs, a must during the twentieth century, have been an indication of the times. In most of them, symbols of a certain time period have emerged. In the Seville Expo ’92, we saw the introduction of the high-speed train called the Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) of Spain that came to symbolize the transportation technology of the country, the pavilion of Chile showed a gigantic iceberg brought from the Chilean Antarctica to Spain to teach the World about climate change, and the United States showed the world for the first time two innovations: the Internet and the electric car. The 1889 World’s Fair in Paris had, as its entrance, a metallic tower that was supposed to be dismantled after the end of the fair: the Eiffel Tower, nowadays the symbol of the city.

With the same spirit, Uber plans to introduce a passenger flying car (technically known as Vertical Takeoff and Landing Vehicle, VTOL), a vehicle that is launched and landed vertically, at the Dubai World Fair of 2020. Yesterday, the company announced at its Elevate Summit the intention to demonstrate a network of this vehicle in the cities of Dubai and Dallas, Texas. They also announced partnerships with several aviation manufacturers to develop and deliver the flying car by then. Embraer, the Brazilian business Jet company is already working in the development of a mini-plane for these type of services, Aurora, an American manufacturer of drones is re-designing its best model to be a flying vehicle. For Uber, the flying cars play into the viability and profitability of the company in the future. They are planning to launch the initiative in 2023.

"If you're not planting the seeds for 5-10 years out, you have no company in five to 10 years. This is why Uber’s running at this as opposed to taking a kind of careful approach, a slow approach to this. We just want to usher it in as fast as possible,” Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden told the Wall Street Journal.

The paper added: "The ride-hailing company on Tuesday said its goal is to lower commute times and transportation costs. It hopes to experiment with the first versions of vehicles that can vertically take off and land. Mr. Holden said Uber has the regulatory muscle and logistical know-how to be a leader in flying-car transport. Still, the announcement left much unclear, including the extent of the planned testing. It will likely be many years before a full fleet of such vehicles could be deployed, considering regulatory and technological hurdles," the paper reports.

Conception of an Uber Vertipost. Credit: UberConception of an Uber Vertipost. Credit: Uber

A conceptual Uber flying car. Credit: UberA conceptual Uber flying car. Credit: Uber

A landing flying car. Credit: UberA landing flying car. Credit: Uber

The future that Uber promises is a dream humans have been waiting for a long time: less congested cities with minimum pollution, more space for humans to walk, bike lanes, parking spaces converted into parks. An idyllic world that according to Uber’s plans will be affordable and will allow, for instance, to go from San Francisco to San José, a drive that normally takes one hour in a quiet day, but easily becomes two and a half in dense traffic.

VTOL App in action. Credit: UberVTOL App in action. Credit: Uber

The challenges of this technology are not trivial. One of them is the creation of sufficient number of vertiports, the platforms from where the take-off and landing will take place; traffic control would be another problem; battery charging stations and the possible lack of enough pilots to “drive” the many flying cars they are planning to have.

"Uber — which has said it won’t build the vehicles for its future network of flying cars — is partnering with several companies to push the technology, including Embraer SA and Textron Inc.’s Bell Helicopter. For landing pads atop buildings, it is working with Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood Development Co.," according to the Wall Street Journal.

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