Flying taxis have been often touted as the pinnacle of technological advancements for decades and starting from 2025, it could become a reality in India. Anand Mahindra, Chairperson, Mahindra & Mahindra, took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) handle to reveal the details of India’s first-ever flying taxi developed by a company incubated at IIT Madras.
Mahindra has also shared pictures along with additional details of the upcoming ePlane. With a range of up to 200 km, this electric e-taxi will be able to take off and land vertically. Furthermore, these ePlanes will have a payload capacity of 200 kgs, thus easily being able to carry two passengers at once. While more details are still under the wraps but during the development phases, the company had revealed that these flying taxis will operate at an altitude level of 0.5 to 2.0 km and will travel at speeds of up to 200 kmph, thus reaching the destination a lot faster than compared to road vehicles.
The fare for these taxis is expected to be only double of the road taxis that we often use in cities along with the added benefits of taking just 10 mins to cover distances of up to 10 km.
While the prototype is a promising first step, there's still work to be done before we see these electric taxis zipping through Indian airspace. Regulations and infrastructure development will be crucial for safe and efficient operations. Nevertheless, once the company has a larger operating fleet, it says that the fare will come on par with any app-based taxi.
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