Efko: Hi-Fly Taxi Aerotaxi

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• Flying cars
• Unmanned aerial vehicle (drone, UAV)

2021: Investing more than 1 billion rubles in an air taxi project

The Biryuch innovation center (part of Efko) has completed the next stage in the development of its own unmanned vehicle. Aerotaxi is being created as part of the Healthy Innovation initiative - the Efko shareholder project. As representatives of Efko told TAdviser, at the first stage, investments in the project amounted to more than 1 billion rubles. Its own design bureau was created, the Experimental Flight Center, the composite materials workshop, the assembly workshop for the production of aircraft, as well as the Test Center and the Additive Technologies Laboratory were built. The Hi-Fly Taxi prototype can already make unmanned flights at a range of up to 15 km and carry goods weighing up to 120 kg.

Mayonnaise manufacturer invested more than 1 billion rubles and created air taxi

The first unmanned flight of Hi-Fly Taxi took place in October 2021 (flights in "manual mode" were carried out from May 2021). It took less than 1 year to develop the current version of air taxi.

"Aerotaxis can become a massive and affordable solution to increase transport accessibility in Russia. Fast, comfortable and without harm to nature. Hi-Fly Taxi is a crucial part of our investment in a healthy future. They will allow us to create a future that we like and children will not be ashamed of. With healthy food and an environmentally friendly and comfortable space for life, "said Sergey Ivanov, executive director and member of the board of directors of Efko.

Already at the end of 2022, Efko plans to carry out the first Hi-Fly Taxi flights on dedicated routes in the Belgorod region at a distance of up to 50 km. To do this, the company, together with the Government of the Belgorod Region, intends to achieve the creation of an experimental legal regime (EPR) for the flights of heavy unmanned aerial vehicles in the region.

The Hi-Fly Taxi prototype is made according to a multicopter scheme with 16 electric motors located in two planes. Well-known aircraft with upper propellers have good stability, but poor maneuverability, and with lower propellers, on the contrary, good maneuverability, but poor stability, explained in Efko. A two-tier aircraft allows you to achieve an optimal ratio by ensuring stability with screws of the upper tier, and maneuverability with screws of the lower tier (the technology is patented by the Biryuch innovation center). The reliability of the system allows you to continue the flight and land even in the event of a failure of up to 4 engines.

accumulators As in the first stage, they are used. lithium-ion To achieve the project targets and the ability to carry out flights taking into account climatic the peculiarities in, Russia including in the Far North, the developers are working on the creation of alternative energy sources, relying on membrane technologies. This task is solved in cooperation with the Institute of Solid State Physics RAS and leading Russian ones. scientists

Aerotaxi is being developed as part of the creation of a multifunctional Hi-Fly platform. The project provides for and is already underway the creation of a cargo unmanned aerial vehicle Hi-Fly Cargo, including medical, fire, evacuation, police and other modifications.

In particular, Efko expects to launch cargo drones into mass production and put into commercial operation by 2024. By this time, the company plans to achieve the following target flight and technical characteristics: range - 600 km, carrying capacity - 220 kg, flight time - 180 minutes, speed - up to 300 km/h. And the first unmanned flight of air taxi from Alekseevka to Belgorod is planned to be carried out in 2028.

In general, within the framework of the Hi-Fly project, Efko creates all the necessary technological infrastructure for the commercial operation of unmanned aerial vehicles, including command and control centers, landing sites and service centers.

See also

• Self-driving cars (global market)
• Self-driving cars in Russia