India’s Solution To Curb Global Traffic Woes

We’ve come a long way from travelling on foot to realistically, flying in the skies. However, the scourging number of cargo, public and private transport vehicles and ever-increasing population in the urban areas has resulted in exhaustive travel delays owing to traffic congestion. An average person spends about 7% of their day in everyday commute and can spend over 57 hours a year stuck in traffic. It is certainly a matter of rising concern and calls for a need to declutter urban spaces.

Despite well-connected road networks and infrastructural and technological developments in the automotive and logistics industries, cities are in quest of safer, quieter, and greener transportation systems, while the markets demand longer ranges coupled with the consumer's need for an affordable, accessible and flexible commute system - the challenges in designing a solution are quite complex. 

The silver lining is that The ePlane Company is in pursuit of building the world's most compact flying electric taxi to alleviate congestion in cities worldwide through a solution from India. We are currently developing electric air transportation systems that are designed for both intra-city commute and cargo transmission. Once built, our products can potentially revolutionise global markets, including the Middle East, the US and Western Europe.

Incubated out of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, The ePlane Company was founded in 2017 by Professor Satya Chakravarthy and Pranjal Mehta with a vision to make flying ubiquitous.

Our flagship product, ePlane e200, will be India's first eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) transportation system that ascends and descends like a drone and propels forward through the air like a plane at 500 m above ground altitude. 

With a footprint of 5 x 5 m (in length and width), the ePlane e200 is essentially the size of two adjacently parked cars. Focused on offering user-centric innovative and immersive flying experiences, commuters can fly on-demand, by simply booking the e200 through a mobile app as they currently do with on-road taxi services. 

The ePlane e200 will transport people safely and quickly from their rooftop to their end destination 10x faster. The solution is extremely accessible as it can operate out of any rooftop with no additional infrastructure requirements, allowing for quick onboarding and offboarding of the commuters. Initially, it will be human-piloted offering the space for one passenger per trip, but as regulations develop, we strive to transform it into an unmanned autonomous vehicle, offering the space for 2 passengers per trip, making it the most compact solution to potentially reduce on-road congestion. 

With a cruise speed of 160+ kmph and a travel range of 200+ km, the ePlane e200 is capacitated with innovative battery technology to make multiple hops on a single charge. It can become a viable commute solution for people living in low accessibility areas as well.

Further, the cargo variant of the e200 can be utilised to transport up to 200 kg payload per trip with military applications and serve other inter-industry purposes such as transporting commodities between warehouses that could be located up to 100 km apart.

The larger vision is to offer safe, sustainable and efficient urban aerial mobility solutions, thus curbing the traffic woes of consumers around the world. 

Fasten your seatbelt and let’s fly into the future!