A first look inside SureFly's re
In Manhattan's Flatiron Plaza on Monday, children gawked and construction workers tiptoed in curiosity around transportation company Workhorse's product showcase of two futuristic vehicles: the first electric pickup truck, and the Surefly octocopter drone.
Workhorse is a midwestern transportation company that specializes in electric trucks, particularly for commercial (not personal) use. It gained attention this past May when it achieved manned flight of its SureFly hybrid helicopter. With eight propellers that provide balance, it's designed more like a drone than a traditional helicopter — so it's better described as a personal drone octocopter. Also, octocopter is pretty fun to say, so that's what we're going with, OK?!
SEE ALSO:SureFly's hybrid electric octocopter drone achieves first manned flightMashable attended Workhorse's first look preview event for the SureFly octocopter and the W-15 electric pickup truck in Manhattan on Monday. The W-15 is slated for release in 2019, and Workhorse plans to bring the SureFly to market some time in the next two years.
Credit: LILY KARTIGANER/MASHABLECredit: LILY KARTIGANER/MASHABLEBoth products feature lean construction, designed to be both lightweight and fuel-efficient. For the W-15, that means its carbon fiber body can handle everything a traditional pickup truck can, with an unheard of 80-mile all-electric — and unlimited hybrid — range.
Workhorse says the W-15 electric pickup truck can do anything a gas pickup can.Credit: lily kartiganer/mashableThe octocopter also has a light, nimble design. And, most importantly, it's easy to use.
"If you can fly a drone, you can fly this," Workhorse CEO Steve Burns said. "Even if you can't fly a drone, you can probably still fly this."
Burns showed Mashable around the cockpit. It's got a pretty spare but spacious design. Artificial Intelligence guides takeoff and landing, displayed on a large tablet. A joystick allows a flyer to steer. And an up and down switch makes the octocopter airborne, or guides it back to earth.
"A helicopter requires both feet, both arms, a lot of 3D thinking," Burns explained. "Here, the computer's flying you."
A tablet, joystick, and up and down buttons are all flyers need to man the octocopter.Credit: lily kartiganer/mashableStaying true to Workhorse's roots, Burns sees the first applications for the octocopter as fleet-based; for example, for paramedics and first responders, agriculture, or the military. But Workhorse specifically designed the drone so that it could be integrated as a product for personal use.
"We really want to go fleet-centric first," Burns said. "But in the end, we're getting a lot of excitement from people who just want to avoid traffic. So I think in the end that's the most volume, but we're going to cut our teeth on fleets."
In the creation of the octocopter, Workhorse questioned what has kept helicopters from more widespread personal use. The answer was mainly difficulty of use, and affordability. So it's easy to fly, will be offered at an affordable price (under $200,000, which is cheaper than most helicopters), and the propeller arms fold in, so it can fit in a garage. It's slightly smaller than a helicopter, and will eventually come in either one-seater, two-seater, and four-seater options.
Credit: lily kartiganer/mashableCredit: LILY KARTIGANER/MASHABLEAnd the SureFly is now graduating beyond its experimental stage. It has been operating under an experimental license from the FAA. But Workhorse has now applied for a full license, and thinks it will be the first fully FAA-licensed Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicle.
Despite an intensive regulatory process, Burns doesn't see that as Workhorse's biggest challenge. Instead, it's disrupting the gasoline-reliant ground and air vehicle market. But that opportunity to disrupt is also an asset.
"For a little company it's a huge, huge opportunity," Burns said. "In both road vehicles and air vehicles, changing the status quo is tough. I don't think there's anything more interwoven into America than gasoline driven transportation. We're an American company, we're in the midwest, where cars and trucks are made, and we're trying to innovate and move the needle a little bit. And the good news is, it's such a giant market, you don't have to move the needle much to have a big impact."
You can pre-order the SureFly and the W-15 on Workhorse's website now.
Featured Video For You
NASA is attempting to fly a helicopter on Mars for the first time
TopicsElectric VehiclesDrones
(责任编辑:新闻中心)
- Deceased K
- 150,000 American students have experienced a school shooting.
- 踏上青石板路 闲游黄埔古村∣走进乡村看绿美 ②
- Trump to Apple: Make the iPhone in the U.S., not China
- CrowdStrike outage is still causing hundreds of flight cancellations daily
- iPhone 16 Pro new color will reportedly be Desert Titanium
- KOICA to focus on green, digital initiatives
- S. Korea deeply concerned about N. Korea's projectile launch: NSC
- Waymo's new iPhone app lets some users order self
- US Open 2024 livestream: How to watch US Open tennis for free
- 'Denuclearization talks not likely to make progress this year'
- René Auberjonois, Odo from 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine', has died
- Trump hopes Rob Porter has a great career, wishes him well.
-
Essential Apps to Install on your Windows PC or Mac
You just bought a new laptop, built a new desktop PC, or are simply clean installing on a new solid ...[详细] -
Unification minister promises support for aid groups to resume assistance to N. Korea
Unification Minister Lee In-young (R) speaks with Lee Ki-bum, head of Korea NGO Council for Cooperat ...[详细] -
Biden says US will act accordingly if N. Korea escalates, but diplomacy still possible
The captured image from the website of the White House shows President Joe Biden answering questions ...[详细] -
North Korea slams Pompeo and says will 'walk our way'
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo YonhapNorth Korea on Monday warned it could cut off dialogue wit ...[详细] -
How 3D Game Rendering Works: Texturing
In this third part of our deeper look at 3D game rendering, we'll be focusing what can happen to the ...[详细] -
Trump says he has no reaction to North Korea launches
President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing on the coronavirus at the National Institutes of Hea ...[详细] -
North Korean leader supervises mortar firing drill
North Korean soldiers participate in a mortar firing drill, according to the official Korean Central ...[详细] -
North Korean media outlet accuses high
Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, holds up his smartphone durin ...[详细] -
Best smartphone deal: Google Pixel 8a on sale for $449 at Amazon
SAVE $50:As of August 27, get the Google Pixel 8a for $449, down from $499, at Amazon. That's 10% of ...[详细] -
5G awareness is big in cities, lags behind VR and AI
Everyone wants to get the word out on 5G. (What's 5G? Read What Is 5G? for the answer.) For now, as ...[详细]
Apple to start manufacturing iPhone Pro in India, report claims
Trump says 'We don't know' about North Korean leader's health
- Best CPU Deals, AMD vs Intel: Holiday CPU Buying Guide
- Data missing from your Android apps? Latest Chrome update may be to blame (update: fixed).
- Waymo's new iPhone app lets some users order self
- North Korean leader attends ceremony for Pyongyang hospital amid coronavirus fears
- Elon Musk's AI facility is reportedly operating gas turbines without a permit
- René Auberjonois, Odo from 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine', has died
- Breaking down Mike Huckabee's tweet which may be the worst of all time