Ehang’s 184 Taxi Drone Takes A Big Step In Development

The Ehang 184 flying taxi drone, first introduced at CES 2016, is taking a big step in development — according to reports this week.

Ehang’s 184 Taxi Drone Gets Green-light For Testing

The 184, designed for a single passenger, is described as a quadcopter with eight propellers, and four arms. The drone stands about five-feet tall and weighs around 440 pounds. It can fly for almost 25 minutes and has an average cruising speed of 62 mph.

The drone needs no pilot and can be controlled using only an incorporated mobile app. There’s no joystick, buttons, levers or switches — the navigation is done autonomously.

“It’s been a lifetime goal of mine to make flight faster, easier and more convenient than ever,” said Ehang CEO Hauzi Hu at CES 2016. “The 184 provides a viable solution to the many challenges the transportation industry faces in a safe and energy efficient way.”

Ehang Inc., while located in Guangzhou, China, will reportedly have the drone undergoing flying tests in Nevada.

The Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems, a state nonprofit group sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, will work to help EHang test and develop the 184.

“We will help them submit necessary test results and reports to the FAA and all that kind of stuff,” the institute’s business development director Mark Barker told the Las Vegas-Review Journal. “It’s a big deal for EHang and it’s a big deal for NIAS and the state of Nevada because we will be helping them to test and validate their system.”

EHang expects to begin testing in Nevada later this year.

“We have several ranges where we can do it, but we haven’t firmed that up yet,” Barker said, adding that the institute will meet with EHang officials again in about a month to arrange details. “EHang Inc. will need a combination of restricted and unrestricted airspace, so we are trying to figure out what would be the best place to do that at.”