Alauda “world-first” electric flying racing car takes flight

The remotely-piloted Airspeeder Mk3, a full-scale electric flying racing car from Alauda Aeronautics, has made a series of first flights in preparation for the EXA racing series. Check out the video. Up to four teams with two remote pilots per team will compete in three individual events across the globe through 2021, racing over locations inaccessible to traditional motorsport. Audiences can tune in to the competitions through global streams available on-demand.

The series is the brainchild of Matthew Pearson, Founder, Airspeeder and Alauda Aeronautics. In 2019, the entrepreneur stated that his ambition to create the world’s first racing series for electric flying cars. He was inspired by the role racing historically has played in accelerating the development of both ground and air mobility.

“Nothing drives innovation like racing,” said Pearson. “The world is ready for advanced air mobility, and we are proud to make history by introducing the world’s first racing series for flying electric cars. Airspeeder and EXA represent the future of motorsport and a compelling and exhilarating showcase of the potential of electric flying cars as this generation’s defining mobility revolution.”

The historic first flights took place in the deserts of South Australia under the observation of Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Throughout the development process, the Alauda team worked with the regulator to ensure regulatory compliance while developing robust safety protocols. The successful execution of these flights means that uncrewed electric flying car races can take place in 2021 at three soon-to-be-revealed locations.

Organizers are hoping the races will rapidly hasten the market arrival of eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft. The technology, predicted by Morgan Stanley to be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040, is already in limited applications like air logistics and remote medical care and has the potential to liberate cities from congestion through clean-air passenger applications like air taxis.

Alauda Aeronautics hopes to take a leadership position in the mobility revolution by creating the world’s first racing series for electric flying cars. It is providing the proving ground to rapidly accelerate the development of the key safety, performance, and dynamics technologies that will underpin the growth of eVTOL transportation.

“We are proud to introduce a sport that redefines what humans and machines can achieve together,” added Pearson. “These historic first flights are just the start and we are all excited to begin a momentous new chapter in motorsport’s rich legacy.”

To create the new class of aircraft, Pearson has gathered a team of technical experts, engineers, and designers from F1, performance automotive, and civil and military aviation backgrounds from companies such as Mclaren, Brabham, Boeing, Mclaren, Jaguar, and Rolls-Royce.

From a base at Alauda’s technical HQ in Adelaide, South Australia, they have engineered and tested the Mk3. It has now entered production, with 10 being built for the series. Airspeeder’s commercial HQ based is in London. From there, CCO Jack Withinshaw’s team has forged partnerships with Acronis, EQUALS, DHL, IWC Schaffhausen, and Teknov8.

Pre-season testing

The events will bring together elite racers from aviation, motorsport, and e-sports backgrounds to remotely pilot the world’s only racing eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft. The pilots will remotely control their Airspeeders in races across electronically governed, AR (augmented reality) enabled sky-tracks.

An EXA pre-season will soon be announced, taking the form of a drag-race style competition between two “works teams” from Alauda. These final test events will serve as an initial shake-down before external teams are invited to compete.

For the series, the remote pilots will take their seats in a simulator environment that mimics the dynamics and ergonomics of the Mk3 cockpit. From there they control the physical Speeder through a series of courses dictated by electronic sky-tracks using LiDAR and RADAR driven “virtual forcefields.”

Each Speeder has identical specifications, so pilot skill and team strategy will determine race winners. Physical telerobotic avatars named Aviators representing human pilots will “sit” in the Mk3 cockpit. This will provide engineers with critical data and information on the effects of high-speed racing, rapid turning, acceleration, and deceleration on the human body.

This will prep the Airspeeder’s progression to human-piloted races in 2022. EXA will take its place as the feeder series for crewed races in the forthcoming Mk4.

Every race will include rapid pit stops. To facilitate this, engineers have developed a “slide and lock” system for the swift removal and replacement of batteries when on the ground. In-house pit crews have driven pitstop time down to just 20 s, which is expected to continue to fall.

Design and performance

According to its maker, the Mk3 features a suite of technologies and engineering elements never seen on an eVTOL aircraft. These innovations will be validated in the uncrewed proving phase and include sophisticated collision avoidance systems that create a “virtual forcefield” around the craft to ensure close but ultimately safe racing.

The Airspeeder Mk3’s design was inspired by the classic forms of racing cars from the 1950s and 1960s. The vision of Felix Pierron, Head of Design, melds F1-car dynamics, fighter-jet profile, and helicopter function.

Its 320-kW maximum power propels an aircraft (without the pilot) that weighs just 130 kg (286 lb). It can lift an additional weight of more than 80 kg (176 lb) for piloted races. Acceleration from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) takes 2.8 s, and the Speeder can climb to 500 m (1640 ft). For maneuvering, the Mk3 has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 3.5, which the company says exceeds that of an F-15E Strike Eagle’s 1.2., and can generate up to 5 g.

The engineering team has developed an advanced carbon-fiber structure in its obsession with shedding grams to gain critical seconds in performance. An integrally stiffened skin allows for the complex shapes of the fuselage while providing structural integrity.

The vehicle batteries have been redesigned from those of the earlier concept vehicle, resulting in 90% more capacity with only a 50% increase in weight. Power delivery profiles can be changed by ground crews to respond to the different requirements of the electronically governed sky-tracks that pilots will follow.

Airspeeder employs a systems-based approach to safety taken from military, civilian, and performance aviation. This means that no single operational failure can lead to the loss of the primary function of controlled flight. In the case of an isolated failure, the vehicle will remain in the air, but at reduced performance, to ensure the pilot, whether operating remotely, in the case of the Mk3, or in the cockpit in future iterations will be able to safely return to the ground.

For more on the Airspeeder: