{"id":98675,"date":"2022-05-10T09:30:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T09:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alj.com\/?post_type=perspective&p=98675"},"modified":"2022-06-29T05:23:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T05:23:59","slug":"the-skys-the-limit","status":"publish","type":"perspective","link":"https:\/\/alj.com\/en\/perspective\/the-skys-the-limit\/","title":{"rendered":"The sky\u2019s the limit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republished from JIMCO<\/a> (Jameel Investment Management Co.), the investment arm of the Jameel Family.<\/h4>\n

As our cities become ever more crowded, surface transport such as cars, vans and motorcycles take up an increasing amount of space, producing more congestion, more noise, more pollution, and more safety hazards. \u00a0Could electrically powered air mobility provide a lift off towards a cleaner, quieter, less hectic and more sustainable model of urban mobility?<\/p>\n

For the first time in history, more people now live in urban than in rural areas.\u00a0 And over the next three decades or so, global population growth is expected to take place almost exclusively in the world\u2019s cities and towns. \u00a0According to the UN, the number of people living in cities is expected to grow from approximately 4.4 billion today to around 6.7 billion in 2050[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Add to this the increasing rate of global private car ownership, particularly in high growth markets like China and India, plus increasing investment in public transport infrastructure such as trains, trams and buses, and our urban environments look set to be busier and more congested than ever before. \u00a0Even if green mobility solutions like electric cars, buses or trams can help to control CO2 <\/sub>emissions, they\u2019re as much to blame for the congestion and noise as any gas-guzzler.<\/p>\n

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Lifting people and goods up into the empty skies and away from our busy urban centers with near-silent electric vertical take-off and landing craft (eVTOL) would transform our cities, making them more peaceful, greener and safer.<\/p>\n

Outlying rural communities, up to 50 miles from major population centers, could become more convenient places to live, no matter the state of the roads in between.\u00a0 People will be able to live where they want<\/em>, rather than where they have to<\/em>.\u00a0 Isolated communities could become more connected, and benefit from the easier delivery of medical and food supplies.<\/p>\n

In a world such as ours, where the wheeled transport paradigm dominates, it is easy to think of alternative solutions like these as sci-fi fantasy; unrealistic dreams that could never take hold.\u00a0 But look a little closer and you find that the technology for many electric flight applications is already available with more being developed and the economic model is within reach.\u00a0 In fact, research by Morgan Stanley[2]<\/sup><\/a> predicts a US$ 9 trillion market in eVTOL transport by 2050, overtaking surface transport, and confidently states that it\u2019s not a question of if<\/em> air mobility will come to dominate, but when<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Transporting people<\/h2>\n
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Helicopter traffic in S\u00e3o Paulo Brazil.\u00a0 The congested megacity has over 400 registered helicopters (with 700+ in the state) flying over 700 trips per day, according to 2013 study taken placing it ahead New York and Tokyo. With 12m citizens in the urban area, this means one helicopter per 17,000 people \u2013 the highest in the world. Photo Credit \u00a9 Ashley Harper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flying taxis are already part of the everyday trip to work for hundreds of people in the world\u2019s most congested cities[3]<\/sup><\/a>.\u00a0 Wealthy commuters coming into S\u00e3o Paulo from the Brazilian countryside, or between Hong Kong and Macau, or hopping from artificial island to skyscraper in Dubai, pay thousands of dollars to rise above the traffic jams and sail through the skies to their destinations.<\/p>\n

Now, advancing technology offers the possibility of mass transit above the roads in eVTOL craft at prices that will be far more accessible to most people.<\/p>\n

Offered the prospect of flying to work many people are still hesitant . . . \u00a0at the moment, but research by McKinsey[4]<\/sup><\/a> has found that reluctance decreases as the congestion on the roads increases.\u00a0 India, which suffers from worse traffic than almost any other country, is most receptive to the idea of air mobility, with between 31% and 47% of respondents saying they would be prepared to try it, depending on the situation, with commuting, business trips and airport transfers being the most popular.<\/p>\n

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The Jameel Investment Management Company (JIMCO<\/a>) is one of a number of major investors helping to push forward the boundaries of what is possible in this exciting sector. \u00a0Alongside long-time Abdul Latif Jameel<\/a> partner Toyota <\/a>Motor Corporation, Intel Capital and JetBlue Technology Ventures, it was an early investor in California-based Joby Aviation<\/a>, one of the most advanced companies building a personal eVTOL.\u00a0 Other investors in the company include Uber and Capricorn Investment Group, (major backers of Tesla and SpaceX).<\/p>\n