Alauda Aeronautics has taken a significant next step in its journey in making the first electric flying car racing series a reality. Over the deserts of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia last week, the company held a first-ever timed drag race of the company’s Airspeeder’s electric flying car known as the Speeder in a key pre-season testing session for the EXA competition series in 2022.

“We are on the cusp of making motorsport and mobility history with the world’s first electric flying car races,” said Matt Pearson, Founder & CEO, Airspeeder & Alauda Aeronautics. “This test race provides the world a glimpse at the next generation of motorsport and mobility. This first test drag race is a major moment in the creation of our sport and a giant leap forward for the development of electric flying cars.”

In addition to being the visionary leader behind Alauda and Airspeeder, Pearson is driving the rapidly expanding IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) space as CCO at Fleet Space Technologies, a company he also co-founded. From a base in South Australia, millions of devices are powered via Low Earth Orbit through the company’s growing network of nanosatellites.

The Airspeeder and Alauda Aeronautics global operations are based at the sport’s technical headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia, near the ideal testing grounds for the new form of aerial mobility. The company’s commercial, communications, and administrative headquarters are led by CCO Jack Withinshaw from London, to provide Airspeeder with more direct connections with leaders in motorsport, rights management, and regulation.

EXA Series race plans call for a grid of full-scale Speeders competing in landscapes where motorsport has never been before. Teams from a range of industries will be provided with Speeders and given technical and tactical freedom to gain a competitive edge in the series. The format is designed to ensure a close motorsport competition based on pilot skill and race management.

Fans around the world will be able to watch, with coverage enhanced by technology that communicates the virtual tracks and race telemetry data projected directly to pilots through augmented reality. Because flying car racing does not require the same physical infrastructure as legacy motorsport, organizers say the series is built with sensitivity to global to race with minimal ecological impact.

The first drag-race was run as an internal competition between two technical teams from Alauda Aeronautics, adapting their strategy in line with wind and dust conditions in the desert location. As actual series races play out in varying conditions—over ice, sea, desert, and forest locations—mastery of external factors is expected to add a compelling tactical layer to the sport.

Under the EXA Series banner, the remotely piloted races will serve as a feeder series for the forthcoming crewed Airspeeder Grand Prix series. In addition to developing the technology that underpins the sport, the EXA Series is intended to be a breeding ground for the pilots that will pioneer the electric flying car racing era. Alauda intends to draw pilots from the elite ranks of motorsport; esports; and civil, military, and acrobatic aviation.

The aim is for the Airspeeder pilots to help accelerate a new mobility revolution, especially for the eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) industry, which the company says is predicted to be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040. Alauda created its motor racing arm as a space for the industry to rapidly develop key safety, performance, and digital technologies. It hopes to speed the development of electric flying cars that it says promise to liberate urban environments from congestion through a clean form of advanced aviation mobility.

In the drag race, the red liveried team Bravo, led by Technical Project Manager Brett Hill, faced the Black liveried team Alpha led by Head of Operations Renee Fraser. The two-day testing period proved an important showcase of live race conditions that teams and pilots will face in the EXA races. The drag-race format was chosen to demonstrate the performance and safety technologies, in particular the “Virtual Forcefield” suite of LiDAR and radar safety systems that deliver close but safe full-grid circuit racing.

The Mk3 Speeders flew at over 100 km/h (62 mph) and heights of 10 m (33 ft) above the ground. Team Bravo crossed the line 3.2 s quicker than team Alpha over a 400-m (1310-ft) distance simulating a traditional quarter-mile drag race. After rapid development, the Speeders are expected to fly at up to 300 km/h (186 mph) in full race specification.

Airspeeder will soon make announcements on the first group of committed teams and the locations where races will be staged.

Check out our earlier coverage of Alauda and Airspeeder at Alauda “world-first” electric flying racing car takes flight and Alauda reveals Airspeeder: ‘world’s first’ electric flying racing car.