{"id":205869,"date":"2025-01-01T13:14:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T13:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/01\/pilotless-passenger-drones-and-driverless-taxis-as-china-pushes-boundaries-of-how-we-travel\/"},"modified":"2025-01-01T13:14:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T13:14:36","slug":"pilotless-passenger-drones-and-driverless-taxis-as-china-pushes-boundaries-of-how-we-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/01\/pilotless-passenger-drones-and-driverless-taxis-as-china-pushes-boundaries-of-how-we-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilotless passenger drones and driverless taxis as China pushes boundaries of how we travel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pilotless<\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Have you ever dreamed of flying in an unmanned drone, from city to city?<\/p>\n

It sounds like the stuff of fantasy, but in China<\/strong><\/a> pilotless passenger drones are a reality.<\/p>\n

You can’t catch them like a taxi just yet. But a company called EHang is waiting for the government to approve a commercial licence to start operating short flights around the city of Guangzhou.<\/p>\n

EHang’s vice president, He Tianxing, says: “We believe the future must be an era of low altitude, and every city will gradually develop into a city in the sky.<\/p>\n

“All human beings aspire to have a pair of wings, and everyone wants to fly freely like a bird.”<\/p>\n

Currently, the battery of the two-seater EH216-S allows it to fly for about 25 minutes.<\/p>\n

There is no pilot and the craft follows a pre-programmed route.<\/p>\n

Sky News watched it take off from the company’s headquarters in Guangzhou, fly over a port and land again.<\/p>\n

Its blades whizzed noisily, but it appeared to fly effortlessly, leaving those on the ground itching for a ride on board.<\/p>\n

EHang’s first model was called EH184. “It looked like an octopus, very cool, but more importantly people saw a drone that could carry people,” Mr He says.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n He Tianxing, vice president of EHang
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

This is part of what China calls its “low-altitude economy”. This refers to making money from passenger and delivery drones at an airspace of elevations of up to 1,000 metres.<\/p>\n

The government is handing out financial incentives and licences to develop the sector.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n \"Inside\n <\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n Inside a driverless taxi in Wuhan
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Wuhan’s different vision for public transport<\/strong><\/p>\n

More than 600 miles away from Guangzhou, the city of Wuhan<\/strong><\/a> has a different vision for its public transport.<\/p>\n

It’s betting on driverless taxis and has a pilot programme operating around 400 in the city, reportedly aiming to reach upwards of 1000.<\/p>\n

The process goes like this: order the car with an app on your phone, it shows up within minutes, you punch in a pin and away you go.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n \"A\n <\/div>
\n Image:<\/span>
\n A driverless taxi on the road in Wuhan
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

US fears over Chinese technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

With no driver at the wheel, it veers seamlessly through the traffic. Occasionally it was a bit jerky. But overall, it was a relaxed novelty drive through the city.<\/p>\n

But the technology behind it is so intelligent and sophisticated that the US<\/strong><\/a> is moving to ban Chinese and Russian driverless technology from the country.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The US says it is necessary for national security, because the censors and cameras inside the cars can collect critical information.<\/p>\n

China though is not worried. It has millions of customers at home.<\/p>\n

Speaking earlier this year, Chinese premier Li Qiang said: “We will consolidate and enhance our leading position in industries like intelligent connected new-energy vehicles… and the low altitude economy.”<\/p>\n

Read more: ‘World first’ driverless bus service in Scotland axed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

On the streets of Wuhan, Mr Kim is catching a driverless taxi for the first time with his young daughter and believes in its reliability.<\/p>\n

“We don’t worry because we trust it. It can show how high-tech our city has become,” he says. “We are proud of it.”<\/p>\n

But taxi driver Mr Deng is less convinced.<\/p>\n

“It’s certainly not as convenient as cars operated by people, because we can react on site,” he says. “If there’s no driver, the roads will be paralysed.”<\/p>\n

China is steering its high-tech industries into a bold new world and pushing the boundaries of how we travel.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever dreamed of flying in an unmanned drone, from city to city? It sounds like the stuff of fantasy, but in China pilotless passenger drones are a reality. You can’t catch them like a taxi just yet. But a company called EHang is waiting for the government to approve a commercial licence to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/768x432\/skynews-he-tianxing-ehang-autonomous-vehicles_6780576.jpg?20241219151621","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39203,168,473,5138,5629,162240,9360,1237,6005],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205869"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205871,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205869\/revisions\/205871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}