Israeli start-up tests flying taxis for urgent hospital trips

Start-up Cando flew the vehicles high above Jerusalem and landed them at Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. Mimicking a shipment of emergency medical supplies. eVTOL stands for ‘electric vertical take off and landing’. It’s a developing frontier in city transport. It could soon help users dodge urban congestion and ease pollution.

An Israeli start-up is testing flying taxis for urgent hospital trips. The company, Cando, has developed two types of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles: one large enough to carry a person and one smaller one that can carry medical supplies.

Cando recently tested the vehicles in Jerusalem, flying them high above the city and landing them in the car park at Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. The test was designed to mimic a shipment of emergency medical supplies.

eVTOLs: a new frontier in city transport

eVTOLs are a developing frontier in city transport. They have the potential to revolutionize the way we get around, offering a number of advantages over traditional ground transportation, including:

Speed and efficiency: eVTOLs can travel much faster than cars, making them ideal for urgent trips to the hospital or other important destinations.
Reduced congestion: eVTOLs can fly over traffic, avoiding urban congestion and getting people to their destinations faster.
Reduced pollution: eVTOLs have a small carbon footprint, making them a more sustainable form of transportation.

The potential of the flying taxi market

The flying taxi market has the potential to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years. In the US alone, the urban air mobility market could be worth up to $500 billion by 2040, and could account for 4% of all domestic flights by 2050.

For now, the flying taxi sector is still earthbound as regulators work out the best air traffic and safety rules, and this brand-new mode of transport works to win public trust and investor support.

The World Economic Forum has published 7 ‘Principles of the Urban Sky’, which are central to the eVTOL sector, including safety, sustainability, and equal access for all.