Weird Alibaba: This one-person electric helicopter is terrifyingly awesome

Published

2 years ago

February 25, 2023

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Ok I get it, it’s not a helicopter. It’s a multi-rotor. A quadcopter, perhaps? A drone? VTOL? Whatever it is, it’s a manned flying machine and you can actually buy one from China. It’s scary. It’s wild. And it’s this week’s entry in the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week.

This electric aircraft isn’t cheap — though it’s probably a lot cheaper than the single-seater drones currently in development in the west.

At a price of $78,000, this is an expensive way to risk your life. But at least shipping is cheap, coming in at just $618! They must know I love a deal.

Once you receive the thing (assuming it shows up), it looks like you’ll find a fairly capable machine.

Weighing just 110 kg (242 lb), it has a payload capacity of up to 100 kg (220 lb). That’s enough for me and my dog to soar through the skies, though there’s a chance that would count as animal cruelty. It’s probably best to keep this as a one passenger affair.

The aircraft runs on a 24s battery system, meaning around 88 volts flowing through those motors. That’s a lot of RC lipo batteries underneath your rear end.

There’s no word on capacity, but the sales page says you only get a maximum flight time of 30 minutes. So if I were you, I’d made it count.

You definitely won’t stay airborne as long as a massive spy balloon. But you also probably won’t have enough time in the air to get shot down either. By the time they scramble the jets, you’d better have an emergency landing plan in place anyway.

I can already see rich dudes in Silicon Valley using these things to beat the traffic. They only fly at about 10 m/s (22 mph or 36 km/h), but that’s a lot faster than standstill traffic.

And you can buzz low enough to see the demoralized look on the faces of drivers stuck in traffic jams.

You’ll even be doing it in style! I was expecting to see a cheap Virco plastic chair or a folding lawn seat, but there’s actually a nice-looking leather captain’s chair. It’s even nicer than my own DIY electric aircraft’s chair.

They’re even considerate enough to include a complimentary seatbelt, though I think that’s more for the coroner than for you.

Ok, I jest a bit. But I have to admit that this looks really freaking cool. If I didn’t think there was a solid 20% chance it would just fall out of the sky at any moment, I might even be interested in trying it.

I’d even consider just taking it up a few feet. But the thought of having a quartet of decapitators resting a few inches above my head is almost as scary as the thought of an earthward plunge.

So yea, this is another one of those Awesomely Weird Alibaba EVs that I think I’m just going to have to enjoy window shopping for from afar. I can simply take pleasure in watching them fly away in that epic video below.

And for the record, I DO NOT recommend anyone order one of these and take to the skies. But isn’t it fun to just imagine what it’d be like?

No? It’s terrifying? Ok, fair enough.

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Beta Technologies founder completes first test flight in its production-intent eCTOL [Video]

Published

4 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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Beta Technologies founder completes first test flight in its production-intent eCTOL [Video]

All-electric aircraft developer BETA Technologies has shared another important milestone in bringing its first two vessels to market. Most recently, BETA’s founder, CEO, and test pilot Kyle Clark took the production version of its ALIA eCTOL up for its first flight, as seen in the video below.

BETA Technologies is a fully integrated electric aircraft and systems developer based in Vermont. Three years ago, it debuted its first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the ALIA–250. That BETA vessel has since been renamed the ALIA VTOL and completed a piloted test flight transitioning mid-air this past April.

In addition to the ALIA VTOL, BETA has also been developing an electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) plane called the ALIA CTOL. To date, it has flown tens of thousands of test miles en route to evaluation flights for FAA certification. That aircraft is targeting full approval for commercial operations by 2025.

As BETA moves closer to bringing the ALIA CTOL to the public, it has completed its first bonafide production build in South Burlington. Following a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), BETA has successfully taken its production-ready ALIA CTOL up for a test flight, piloted by its founder and CEO.

Watch BETA’s founder complete a CTOL test flight

BETA Technologies shared details of its first successful production CTOL test flight today alongside the images above and the full video below.

Once the production-intent build of the ALIA CTOL was complete, the FAA inspected the aircraft for safety and compliance before granting BETA a Multipurpose Special Airworthiness Certificate for Experimental Research & Development, Market Survey, and Crew Training, signing-off approval for test flights.

On November 13, BETA CEO, founder, and test pilot Kyle Clark conducted the first test flight of the ALIA CTOL aircraft, which lasted nearly an hour. The test included a conventional runway takeoff before the aircraft climbed to 7,000 feet.

While in the air, Clark tested the aircraft’s handling qualities, stability, control test points, and initial airspeed expansion before completing several approaches ahead of a normal landing. Clark spoke following the successful flight:

This start of our production CX300 flight test campaign is a result of years of hard work and focus on studying customer requirements, hard engineering, manufacturing, production, quality and test. It represents a significant milestone for BETA, and is the beginning of an exciting new phase for the business. With this, we’re one step closer to putting this technology into the hands of our customers.

We learned a lot from this first production build. We weren’t just building an aircraft company, we were building and refining a system to build high quality aircraft efficiently. This first build allowed the team to collect data and insight on manufacturing labor, tooling design, processes, yields and sequences, all of which are being used to refine our production systems.

With its production test flight campaign now underway, BETA says it will continue testing the ALIA CTOL aircraft for the standard 50 hours required before qualifying for a Market Survey and Crew Training certificate. That next certificate will enable BETA to fly outside of Burlington and Plattsburgh and continue training additional pilots on the aircraft.

The company shared it will also continue production of additional aircraft, including ALIA CTOL and ALIA VTOL configurations, the latter of which was recently teased in October. You can view footage of BETA’s CTOL flight below.

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Environment

U.S. crude oil rises, trades around $69 per barrel

Published

4 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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U.S. crude oil rises, trades around per barrel

Crude oil futures rose slightly on Thursday, with the U.S. benchmark trading around $69 per barrel, though the market outlook remains bearish.

Global crude supplies are expected to outstrip demand by more than 1 million barrels per day next year led by robust growth in the U.S., according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly market report.

Here are today’s energy prices by 8:07 a.m. ET:

West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.92 per barrel, up 49 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is down more than 3%.
Brent January contract: $72.78 per barrel, up 50 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, the global benchmark is down more than 5%.
RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.9711 per gallon, up 0.3%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen nearly 6%.
Natural Gas December contract: $2.966 per thousand cubic feet, down 0.6%. Year to date, gas has gained nearly 18%.

UBS slashed its price forecast for global benchmark Brent to $80 per barrel from $87 previously on weakening demand in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

OPEC on Tuesday cut its demand growth forecast for the fourth month in a row earlier this week.

U.S. crude oil has shed about 4% and Brent is down 3.5% since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential as the dollar has surged. A stronger U.S. dollar can depress oil demand among buyers that hold other currencies.

Don’t miss these energy insights from CNBC PRO:

Environment

Loren McDonald stops by Quick Charge to discuss EV charging, Paren, and more

Published

15 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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Loren McDonald stops by Quick Charge to discuss EV charging, Paren, and more

Leading electric vehicle analyst, author, and industry thought leaders Loren McDonald and Bill Ferro stop by Quick Charge to discuss EV Adoption’s acquisition by Paren, the “crisis” of EV charging reliability, and the real state of the EV market.

Depending on who you listen, EVs are either driving brands to record growth and are about cross that critical 10% of the overall market nationwide, or the future is bleak, the market is down, and EVs just aren’t selling. What’s really going on? Loren and Bill (probably) have some answers.

Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 52% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday sale, now through November 28, and be sure to use promo code BLUETTI5OFF for 5% off all power stations site wide. Click here to learn more.

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