Commercial Aerospace

Uber unveils third eVTOL Common Reference Model concept for future flying taxis

May 10, 2018

LOS ANGELES. Engineers at Uber Technologies Inc. in Dallas unveiled the concept for the company’s third electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) Common Reference Model, known internally as eCRM003, during the second-annual Uber Elevate Summit in Los Angeles this week.

Courtney E. Howard

Content Dam Avi Online Articles 2018 05 Uber Ecrm003 Evtol

Content Dam Avi Online Articles 2018 05 Ecrm003 Uber

Mark Moore, director of engineering, aircraft systems at Uber, helped to debut Uber eCRM003. Airframe manufacturers around the world, such as Embraer with its Embraer X eVTOL aircraft, are also actively working on and debuting their own air taxi or flying taxi designs. Initial designs include a cockpit and will be flown by a pilot; the eventual goal is to implement fully autonomous vehicles in Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ridesharing network in cities across the world.

Uber officials indicate that they are working with five airframe partners, to date: Aurora Flight, Bell, Embraer, Pipistrel, and Karem.

Courtney E. Howard | Chief Editor, Intelligent Aerospace

Courtney enjoys writing about all things high-tech in PennWell’s burgeoning Aerospace and Defense Group, which encompasses Intelligent Aerospace and Military & Aerospace Electronics. She’s also a self-proclaimed social-media maven, mil-aero nerd, and avid avionics and space geek. Connect with Courtney at [email protected], @coho on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Google+.