California-based Hoversurf started to train the first Dubai Police officers to fly its S3 2019 Hoverbike in October 2018.
Hoversurf
S3 2019 Hoverbike by Hoversurf —
Hoversurf, making good on a deal signed in 2017, gifted its first serial production unit of the S3 2019 to Dubai Police so officers could begin trials.
Hoversurf
S3 2019 Hoverbike by Hoversurf —
General Director of Dubai Police's artificial intelligence department Brigadier Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi says he sees the electronic vertical landing and take off vehicle (eVTOL) as a potential first-responder unit.
Hoversurf
S3 2019 Hoverbike by Hoversurf —
Dubai Police is known for its collaborations with tech companies and has signed agreements with other drone makers with a mind to rolling out electronic forms of policing in the emirate.
Hoversurf
S3 2019 Hoverbike by Hoversurf —
Brigadier Alrazooqi says he aims to have the hoverbikes in action by 2020.
Hoversurf
S3 2019 Hoverbike by Hoversurf —
Hoversurf chief operating officer Joseph Segura-Conn told CNN the company would make as many as 30-40 units if the police force wished to order that many.
Hoversurf
Back in 2017, Hoversurf displayed an earlier hoverbike model at Dubai's GITEX technology show. An accompanying video grabbed headlines with a test pilot flying high into the sky.
Hoversurf
Dubai Police testing a hoverbike in 2017. Hoversurf has designed four different prototypes. The latest, debuted at CES show in February 2019, swapped blades for ducted fans.
Hoversurf's S3 2019 joins dozens of eVTOL vehicles at various stages of development. Swipe through to discover more.
Hoversurf
Flyer by Kitty Hawk —
In June CNN's Rachel Crane took a test flight in the Flyer, by Larry Page-funded Kitty Hawk, over Lake Las Vegas, Nevada. The Flyer can travel up to 20 mph and had been through 1,500 test flights as of this summer. One of few eVTOLs to go on sale, pre-orders have already closed.
Volocopter —
German company Volocopter trialled its 18-rotor eVTOL aircraft in an unmanned flight in Dubai, in September 2017, reaching heights of nearly 200 feet. Since then Volocopter has announced further test flights in Singapore for 2019.
Nikolay Kazakov/Volocopter
CityAirbus by Airbus —
According to Airbus another eVTOL concept called CityAirbus was scheduled for its first flight by the end of 2018. That still hasn't happened, but a physical model of the CityAirbus was unveiled in Germany on March 1..
Airbus
Rolls-Royce —
UK aerospace company Rolls-Royce unveiled its eVTOL concept this summer, featuring a tilt wing and six propellers, including four that would fold into the wings at cruising altitude. Rolls-Royce hopes it will be available in the early 2020s.
Rolls-Royce
Vahana by Airbus —
On January 31, 2018 Vahana, an eVTOL aircraft by Airbus branch A3, completed its first test flight in Oregon. The aircraft is self-piloted and went from concept sketch to full-scale build in less than two years.
Airbus
Vertical Aerospace —
UK startup Vertical Aerospace completed a test flight for its full scale eVTOL in June 2018 after the 750 kg (1,653 lb) prototype received flight permission from the Civil Aviation Authority.
GF Williams
Uber Elevate concept by Embraer —
EmbraerX, a branch of Brazilian aircraft firm Embraer, unveiled its concept for an Uber Elevate air taxi in May 2018. The ride hailing company put out a call for designs, the first of which could be tested by 2020.
Uber
Pop.Up by Airbus —
Announced in March 2017, the Pop.Up concept looked to connect a passenger capsule with a quadcopter for flight and four-wheel chassis for the road.
Airbus/ItalDesign
SureFly by Workhorse —
The SureFly by Workhorse uses a hybrid electric engine to power the two-seater quadcopter. Its makers say it has a 70 mile range at 70 mph. Manned demo flights took place in December 2018.
