近日，吉利控股集团宣布旗下飞行汽车公司Terrafugia将于今年10月开始接受预定，首批产品将于2019年问世，首批用户将主要面向美国市场。此外，公司还计划在2023年推出全球首台垂直起降的飞行汽车。

Geely Holdings Group recently announced that Terrafugia, its flying car company, will begin accepting bookings in October this year. The first batch of products will be available in 2019 and the first batch of users will mainly be in the U.S. market. In addition, the company also plans to launch the world's first vertical take-off and landing vehicle in 2023.

与此同时，Uber正与美国陆军实验室合作开发飞行出租车项目，计划在2020年开始正式测试Uber Air出租车，并将于2023年在数个城市开展商业服务。早在去年9月，德国无人机公司Volocopter的飞行出租车在迪拜进行了首次飞行测试。

Meanwhile, Uber is working with the U.S. Army Laboratories to develop a flying taxi program that will begin testing Uber Air taxis formally in 2020 and will launch commercial services in several cities by 2023. As early as last September, the German UAV Volocopter's flying taxi conducted its first flight test in Dubai.

迪拜政府计划将飞行出租车与地铁、有轨电车和公共汽车一同纳入城市交通网络。而迪拜道路与交通管理局（RTA）宣布从2017年Q4季度开始对Volocopter进行为期5年的测试，即在2023年完成对飞行出租车运营的最终决定。无论是吉利和Uber，还是迪拜政府，都将2023年作为一个关键的时间节点。这也意味着飞行汽车走进日常生活越来越近。

The Dubai government plans to incorporate flying taxis into urban transport networks along with the subway, trams and buses. The Dubai Road and Transportation Authority (RTA) announced a five-year test of Volocopter starting in Q4, 2017, to complete the final decision on flying taxi operations by 2023. Whether Geely and Uber or the Dubai government, 2023 is a key time node. This also means that flying cars are getting closer and closer to daily life.

电影《第五元素》中的未来交通场景

Future traffic scenes in the fifth elements of the movie

目前，除了Terrafugia、Volocopter，全球还有许多其他科技初创企业和航空公司都推出了飞行汽车项目，以期颠覆人们在城市的出行方式。其中，Aurora、Vahana、亿航智能、Kitty Hawk、Lilium、Urban Aeronautics和Joby Aviation等公司都是该领域的先行者。

At present, in addition to Terrafugia, Volocopter, there are many other technology start-ups and airlines around the world are launching flying car projects in order to disrupt the way people travel in cities. Among them, Aurora, Vahana, Aerospace Intelligence, Kitty Hawk, Lilium, Urban Aeronautics and Joby Aviation are pioneers in this field.

在拥有城市地面交通和地下交通之后，我们终于开始挑战城市近地空间的极限。

With urban ground and underground transportation, we finally began to challenge the limits of urban near-ground space.

尽管各科技公司为我们描绘了一个充满希望的飞行汽车的未来，但在飞行汽车的商业化普及之前，我们还需要迈过很多坎。

Although technology companies have portrayed a promising future for flying cars, there are still many hurdles to be overcome before they can be commercialized.

停机坪建设

Construction of apron

考虑到价格、成本和空间等因素，对城市居民而言，飞行出租车可能是未来最好的出行方式，而私家飞行汽车将是非常小的一部分人的选择。

Considering price, cost and space, flying taxis may be the best way for urban residents to travel in the future, and private flying cars will be the choice of a very small number of people.

当飞行汽车变成现实后，基础设施的建设就必须提上日程。

When the flying car becomes a reality, the construction of infrastructure must be put on the agenda.

尽管飞行汽车可以实现垂直升降，但仍然需要一定载客停机空间，特别是随着空中飞行出租车的数量越来越多，需要的空间也就越来越多。或许可以使用现有停车场，但这势必需要与现有汽车抢夺停车空间。

Although flying vehicles can achieve vertical lift, but still need a certain number of passenger parking space, especially as the number of flying taxis in the air more and more space is needed. It may be possible to use existing parking lots, but this will inevitably require parking with existing cars.

在今年上半年，Uber的第二届Elevate年度大会上，多家建筑设计公司纷纷展示了名为“skyport”的设计方案，以满足未来飞行汽车的交通吞吐量和起降效率。

In the first half of this year, at Uber's 2nd Elevate Annual Conference, several architectural design firms presented designs called "skyports" to meet future flying vehicle throughput and take-off and landing efficiency.

除了这种大型停机坪外，居民对快捷方便的出行需求，将促使城市中出现众多的迷你停机坪——着陆点，以便满足类似共享出行的便捷性，出门即可上机，下机即到家。

In addition to this large apron, residents'demand for quick and convenient travel will prompt the emergence of numerous mini-aprons in the city - landing points, so as to meet the convenience of similar shared travel, go on the plane, get off the plane is home.

另外，无论是大型停机坪还是迷你停机坪，停机坪的建设都需要考虑交通、环境、人文、消防等因素，周围不得有树木、电线、动物、行人、汽车等，还要考虑大风、雨雪、冰雹等恶劣天气的影响。

In addition, whether it is a large or mini-apron, the construction of the apron needs to consider traffic, environment, humanities, fire and other factors. There must be no trees, wires, animals, pedestrians, cars, etc. around the apron, but also consider the impact of gale, rain, snow, hail and other adverse weather.

定价

Price

在公共交通出行方案中，便利性和价格是居民出行的重要考虑因素。选择公交，因为线路多，价格便宜；选择地铁，因为方便快捷、不堵车、可以快速到达较远的地区；选择出租车和共享出行，因为方便、舒适。

In the public transport plan, convenience and price are important factors for residents to travel. Choose the bus, because there are many lines, the price is cheap; Choose the subway, because it is convenient and fast, no traffic jams, can quickly reach the farther areas; Choose taxis and share travel, because it is convenient and comfortable.

定价——永远是制约一个新技术快速普及的重要因素。从城市的一端到另一端，当飞行出租车的费用降到共享出行费用的2-3倍时，或许能够被居民快速接受。

Pricing is always an important factor restricting the rapid popularization of a new technology. From one end of the city to the other, when the cost of flying taxis drops to 2-3 times the cost of shared travel, it may be quickly accepted by residents.

根据Uber的介绍，搭乘Uber飞行汽车，每位乘客一英里的花费大约需要5.73美元。未来，Uber的最终目标是实现每英里约1.84美元的成本，即便与美国出租车的价格相比，也有很好的竞争优势。

According to Uber, a mile per passenger in a Uber flying car costs about $5.73. In the future, Uber's ultimate goal is to achieve a cost of about $1.84 per mile, even if compared with the price of a U.S. taxi, it has a competitive advantage.

网络安全

network security

飞行汽车的商业化需要一系列无比复杂的管理系统相配合，诸如停机坪的管理系统、车辆调度系统、飞行路线管理系统、飞行汽车导航系统等等，还需要取得空中交通管制和飞行权，并与城市交通管理系统无缝接合。

The commercialization of flying vehicles requires a series of extremely complex management systems, such as apron management system, vehicle scheduling system, flight route management system, flying vehicle navigation system and so on. It also needs to obtain air traffic control and flight rights, and seamlessly connect with the urban traffic management system.

而近些年，网络攻击正在变得日益猖獗，网络安全将是飞行汽车不得不慎重解决的问题。电影《速度与激情8》中自动驾驶汽车被黑客攻击的场景并非危言耸听。

In recent years, network attacks are becoming increasingly rampant, network security will be a problem that flying vehicles have to be carefully resolved. In the movie speed and passion 8, the scene of a hacker attack by an autopilot car is not alarmist.

当一辆空中飞行汽车被攻击后，造成的危害和风险将远比地面上的一辆汽车要大得多。

When an aerial vehicle is attacked, the damage and risk will be much greater than a car on the ground.

噪音

noise

想想消费类无人机的嗡嗡声，就可以想象能够载人的无人机将会产生多么大的噪音。当飞行汽车在天空中四处飞翔时，对地面和高层建筑的居民而言，这就会是一件痛苦的事情。

Consider the hum of a consumer UAV and imagine how much noise a manned UAV would make. When flying cars fly around in the sky, it can be painful for the residents of the ground and high-rise buildings.

美国NASA的一项研究表明，无人机的嗡嗡声比汽车噪声更让人心烦。为了防止员工过度加班，2017年，日本物业管理公司大成公司与电讯公司NTT East共同开发了T-FREND系统，利用无人机的嗡嗡声，让办公室员工无法专心工作，提前下班。这或许是无人机噪音为数不多的有利应用之一。

A NASA study in the US shows that drone buzzing is more annoying than car noise. To prevent overtime, in 2017, Japanese property management company Dacheng Co. and telecommunications company NTT East jointly developed the T-FREND system, using the drone buzz, so that office staff can not concentrate on work, leaving work early. This may be one of the few applications of UAV noise.

飞行汽车起飞和降落时产生的强烈气流和声音也会是一件让人讨厌的事情，因为气流会吹起地面的灰尘、杂物，让局部区域的空气与环境变得杂乱。

The strong airflow and sound generated by flying cars during takeoff and landing can also be a nuisance, as airflow can blow up dust and debris on the ground, causing air and the environment in some areas to become cluttered.

另外，还有很多现实问题都是飞行汽车公司必须要考虑的。

Besides, there are many practical problems that must be considered by a flying car company.

配套设施与成本

Supporting facilities and cost

飞行汽车需要定期加油/充电，更换电池，并进行维护，这就意味着必须要有足够的地勤人员和维修人员来管理/维修这些数量不小的设备。

Flying cars require regular refueling / charging, battery replacement, and maintenance, which means there must be enough ground crews and maintenance personnel to manage / maintain these large numbers of equipment.

乘客安全问题

Passenger safety problem

对普通乘客而言，用手机驾驶飞行汽车是不现实的，自动驾驶系统在此时就会派上用场。

For ordinary passengers, it is unrealistic to drive a flying car with mobile phones, and the automatic driving system will come in handy at this time.

但是，当飞行过程中出现意外时，自动驾驶系统如何快速反应保护乘客的安全？飞行汽车的设计是否还需要使用降落伞或安全气囊或其它技术来保护乘客安全？当乘客被困在飞行汽车内时，如何逃生和求生？

However, how can the automatic driving system respond to the safety of passengers when there is an accident in flight? Does the design of a flying car require the use of parachutes or airbags or other technology to protect passengers? How to escape and survive when a passenger is trapped in a flying car?

物联通讯系统

IOT communication system

一旦飞行汽车飞上天空，飞行汽车与控制中心、飞行汽车之间、飞行汽车与自动驾驶汽车之间，都需要实现快速通讯与数据分析，这就需要提供一个无处不在、可靠的网络系统。对于城市通讯基础设施来说，这将是前所未有的重大考验。

Once a flying car flies up to the sky, rapid communication and data analysis is needed between the flying car and the control center, the flying car, the flying car and the autopilot car, which requires a ubiquitous and reliable network system. For the urban communication infrastructure, this will be an unprecedented test.

总体而言，关于飞行汽车的蓝图当然很美好，但需要有强大的生态体系进行支撑。

Overall, the blueprint for flying cars is certainly good, but it needs to be supported by strong ecosystems.

同自动驾驶一样，如果相关的配套设备、基础设施、通讯、法规、监管、环境、居民权利等问题无法解决，其大规模的普及应用就只能始终停留在想象中。

Similar to automatic driving, if the relevant supporting equipment, infrastructure, communications, regulations, supervision, environment, residents'rights and other issues can not be solved, its large-scale popularization and application can only remain in the imagination.

2023年，一转即逝，商业化并不等于规模化应用。但未来总会很美好，我们终将会迎来乘坐飞行汽车出行的一天，但这一天可能会比我们期望的要来得晚一些。

In 2023, once the turn was over, commercialization was not equivalent to large-scale application. But the future will always be good, and we will eventually have a flying day, but it may come later than we expected.

（文编译飞行汽车feiauto）www.feiauto.com

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