This New Drone is Designed to Transport Humans

Drones have been used to deliver everything from booze to pizza, and now there's one that can transport people too. 

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this week, Chinese drone maker Ehang debuted their new, 440-pound drone featuring a cockpit built for one. The Ehang 184 can carry a single passenger weighing 220 pounds or less, and fly them at speeds reaching 63 miles per hour. The rider starts the journey by inputting their flight plan, and from there they only instruct the vehicle when to take off and land. The drone takes care of the rest.

During the flight, passengers can read by the 184’s reading light while relaxing in the air-conditioned cockpit. And if anything should go wrong, a fail safe system kicks in that causes the drone to either revert to hover mode or find a safe spot to land. According to Derrick Xiong, the company’s chief marketing officer, the vehicle has been operated over 100 times, including several trips with human cargo. 

The Ehang 184 is not yet legal in the U.S., but the company told Mashable they’re currently in contact with the FAA. If the passenger drone does hit the market any time soon, it's expected to be listed between $200,000 and $300,000. You can watch the drone in flight in the video below.

[h/t: The Guardian]