Airspeeder all-electric flying cars take off in first drag race

Published by

Bridie Schmidt

5 November 2021 11:55 AM

Source: Airpspeeder/Youtube

The very first flying electric drag race from Airpseeder took place this week, with two remotely-flown Alauda Aeronautics Mk3 Speeders taking to the air blade-to-blade at speeds of over 100 km/hr above a stretch of the Australian desert.

The race was conducted by Team Alpha and Team Bravo, made up of Alauda engineers and official remote test pilots 10 metres above the ground in the South Australian desert.

Duelling for victory down the 400-metre drag strip, Team bravo in red claimed the honours led by Alauda Aeronautics technical project manager Brett Hill three minutes ahead of Team Alpha in black led by Alauda aeronautics head of operations, Renee Fraser.

This pre-season test race validates the concept of eVTOL racing, says Airspeeder, and serves as a demonstration of the real-world racing conditions that teams and pilots will face in the next EXA Series races.

In 2022, teams from all over the world will compete in the world’s first full-grid electric flying vehicle races.

Bridie Schmidt

Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.