This $40,000 Alibaba drone can carry a passenger, but would you risk it?
When I first got into flying quadcopters (back when they were still called quadcopters), I would sometimes imagine what it would be like to shrink myself down Rick Moranis-style and hop aboard. But now thanks to some enterprising Chinese engineers – or perhaps garage tinkerers – I don’t have to imagine it anymore. Instead of shrinking the passengers down, they’ve scaled up the entire drone and added a pilot’s chair.
Now the only question is, how brave are you?
Most of the fun electric vehicles I find for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column seem largely harmless. Most are lumbering and underpowered, with the biggest danger likely being getting cut on an unfinished corner somewhere.
But this is one of the few times where I might not actually volunteer to hop on one of these vehicles myself, mostly out of a healthy sense of self-preservation.
There’s just something about getting into a mail-order aircraft that has “nope” written all over it for me. But if you’re willing to give it a try and you weigh under 100 kg or 220 lb (including your apparently massive coin purse, and I’m not talking about your wallet), then for a mere $39,000 you could have one of these on the way from China.
Or at least, you could have one out the door of the factory. However much extra it costs to ship, insure, receive in the port, clear customs – if that’s even possible, plus brokers fees and local trucking, well that’s all on you as well.
This isn’t the first man-carrying drone we’ve seen in this column. We’ve even gotten a bit creative to get a person up in the air under a drone. But the way the model is hanging onto this drone’s frame for dear life before it’s even left the ground, well that has me an extra bit worried.
The pilotable drone (is it a drone if there’s a pilot in it?) claims an operating ceiling of 120 meters or around 400 feet. I’m not sure why it couldn’t go higher, as it seems like once you’re counting your altitude with triple digits, you’ve basically maxed out the risk already.
Climbing speed is decently quick too, at around 1-2 m/s, meaning you could hit that max altitude in just a minute or two.
The operating speed is a bit faster, clocking in at 10 m/s, or around 22 mph.
Somewhat comically, the only control method is via remote control. That means either you could carry the controller with you and fly like you’re in a video game, or you could let a friend on the ground zip you around. For the latter, I’m not sure what the maximum range of the remote control is, but I suggest you treat that figure with the utmost respect.
I’m also not sure how you’d go about reconnecting that signal on the way down, though I guess you’d have the rest of your life to figure it out.
I wish we had a bit more info on the technical specs. We know it runs on 24s (roughly 88V) lipo batteries, which are the standard chemistry in the RC industry, though are also the most likely to end in a blaze of glory. But we don’t have any info on the motors or controllers.
The limited spec sheet does inform us that the entire thing weighs 220 kg (485 lb), which is frankly more than I was expecting.
Other than a max flight time of 30 minutes, which is around 29 and a half minutes more than I’d care to spend in the thing, the rest of the device is largely a mystery.
So, while it’s kind of awesome that something like this exists, let me end with my typical disclaimer to please don’t buy this. I’m not even sure it’s legal in most areas, let alone all the questions about safety.
There are better ways to blow $40k, like with 40 awesome Chinese electric boats.
Let’s leave these kinds of gravity-defying contraptions where they belong, which is the magical place known as Alibaba’s catalog of weird and awesome EVs.
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Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.
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OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood‘s latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.
“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”
Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.
Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.
“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”
The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain
U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.
Despite the warnings, BYD continues introducing new discounts. On Wednesday, BYD’s luxury off-road brand began offering over 50% Huawei’s smart driving tech.
BYD introduces new discounts on smart driving tech
After BYD cut prices again in May, the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) warned that the ultra-low prices are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”
Although they didn’t single out BYD, it was pretty obvious. BYD slashed prices across 22 of its vehicles by up to 34%, triggering several automakers to follow suit in China.
BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, typically starts at about $10,000 (66,800 yuan). After the price cuts, the Seagull is listed at under $8,000 (55,800 yuan).
It doesn’t look like China’s EV leader plans to slow down anytime soon. Fang Cheng Bao, BYD’s luxury off-road brand, introduced new discounts on Huawei’s smart driving tech on Wednesday.
The limited-time offer cuts the price of Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving High-end Function Package to just 12,000 yuan ($1,700).
Buyers who order the smart driving tech in July will save over 50% compared to its typical price of 32,000 yuan ($4,500).
Earlier this year, Fang Chang Bao launched the Tai 3, its most affordable vehicle, starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,300). The Tai 3 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y, but costs about half as much.
The Tai 3 will spearhead a new sub-brand of electric SUVs following the more premium Bao 8 and Bao 5 hybrid SUVs.
BYD’s luxury off-road brand sold 18,903 vehicles last month, up 50% from May and 605% compared to last year. Fang Cheng Bao has now sold over 10,000 vehicles for three consecutive months.
The Chinese EV giant sold 382,585 vehicles in total in June, an increase of 12% from last year. In the first half of the year, BYD’s cumulative sales reached over 2.1 million, a YOY increase of 33%.
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