This Is The World’s First Electric Flying Race Car
Acceleration from 0-100 kmph takes 2.8 seconds and the Speeder can climb to 500 meters.
By Ameya Naik | Published:
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Airspeeder unveiled to the world the Mk3 racing prototype. This remotely-piloted craft is the world’s first full-scale and functional electric flying racing car. The production version of this vehicle is being created at the sport’s technical headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia. Airspeeder has in fact, announced the specifications of the Flying Race Car. Alauda Aeronautics, sister-company to Airspeeder, is currently building ten of these vehicles for races set to take place on three continents in the coming months.
In conceiving the form of the world’s first electric flying racing car, Head of Design, and Royal Academy of Art Graduate, Felix Pierron’s vision represents the marriage of an F1 car, a fighter jet and helicopter. In functional terms, when crewed racing begins in 2022 and beyond, the pilot will sit in the cockpit in the same manner a driver is placed in a modern Formula 1 car. Pierron referenced the Seaplanes that flew so gracefully and purposefully in the waters adjacent to Monaco in the Schneider Trophy, a major agent of progress at the dawn of the aviation age. The iconic Spitfire design lineage can be traced back to these races and are referenced today in Pierron’s aesthetic treatment for the elegantly tapered front-third of the Airspeeder Mk3.
Alauda Aeronautics, sister-company to Airspeeder, is currently building ten of these vehicles for races set to take place on three continents in the coming months.
The Mk3 remotely-piloted electric flying racing car will deliver a maximum power of 320kW, equalling an Audi SQ7 performance SUV. The Audi weighs 2,500kg while an Airspeeder racing craft (without pilot) weighs just 130kg. It can lift a weight of more than 80kg, proving the viability of the powertrain for piloted races. Acceleration from 0-100 kmph takes 2.8 seconds and the Speeder can climb to 500 meters.
The Mk3 vehicle has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 3.5, which exceeds that of an F-15E Strike Eagle (thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.2), one of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world. The thrust-to-weight ratio, along with other powertrain characteristics, has been verified as part of the exhaustive testing and development programme that preceded the start of full production. Indeed, the rapid hairpin turning potential achieved through an octocopter format has been compared to that of a Formula 1 car, generating up to 5Gs, with the added capability to manoeuvre vertically.
The Mk3 remotely-piloted electric flying racing car will deliver a maximum power of 320kW
The Airspeeder engineering and technical team is drawn from some of the leading names in performance and racing vehicle engineering including Mclaren, Batteries have been re-designed versus the previous iteration of the Airspeeder to have 90 per cent more capacity with only a 50 per cent increase in weight. The specification of these cells also delivers an exciting strategic layer
Every Airspeeder includes rapid pit stops. To facilitate this, Alauda’s engineers have developed an innovative ‘slide and lock’ system for the rapid removal and replacement of batteries when on the ground. This technology debuts on the Mk3. Intense internal competition between inhouse pit-crews has driven the pitstop time down to just 14 seconds, which is entirely compatible with any form of ground-based legacy motorsport. This is expected to continue to fall. For context, a Formula 1 pitstop used to take more than a minute.
The Mk3, which will be operated by an expert remote operator from the ground, features a suite of technologies and engineering elements never before seen on an eVTOL craft. These innovations will be validated in this key uncrewed proving phase and include LiDAR and Radar collision avoidance systems that create a ‘virtual forcefield’ around the craft to ensure close but ultimately safe racing.
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