十年后，我們將迎來(lái)“飛行出租車(chē)”時(shí)代？

SAN FRANCISCO — Flying cars are just starting to inch their way out of science fiction. But that is not stopping some companies from planning for flying taxi services.

舊金山——飛行汽車(chē)正在緩慢地從科幻小說(shuō)中脫離出來(lái)。但這不妨礙一些公司在為飛行出租車(chē)服務(wù)做準(zhǔn)備。

A growing collection of tech companies, aircraft manufacturers, automakers and investors are betting that fleets of battery-powered aircraft will give rise to air taxi services, perhaps as soon as the next decade. Some of those taxis, the companies hope, may even use artificial intelligence to fly themselves.

越來(lái)越多的科技公司、飛機(jī)制造商、汽車(chē)制造商及投資者都在下注：以電池驅(qū)動(dòng)的飛行器將帶來(lái)空中出租車(chē)服務(wù)，可能最快在下一個(gè)十年就能實(shí)現(xiàn)。這些公司希望，這種出租車(chē)的一部分甚至可能利用人工智能自行駕駛。

The dealmaking, technology exploration and perhaps wishful thinking around this new sort of flying transportation — please, the companies ask, don’t call them flying cars — are reminiscent of the work done on self-driving cars just a few years ago.

圍繞著這種新型飛行交通工具——這些公司要求，請(qǐng)不要將它們稱(chēng)為飛行汽車(chē)——的并購(gòu)交易、技術(shù)探索，以及可能的一廂情愿，都不禁讓人想起了短短幾年前在無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)上下的功夫。

No one can say for certain if these new vehicles will turn out to be a real business. But many companies are already worried about being left behind.

沒(méi)人能確定這種新型載具是否會(huì)成為一個(gè)實(shí)在的生意。但許多公司已經(jīng)開(kāi)始擔(dān)心會(huì)被甩在后面。

The European aerospace company Airbus said Tuesday that it was making an investment in Blade, an aviation startup in New York, and forming a partnership to expand Blade’s helicopter hailing service in more cities around the world. Last week, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, said he expected the ride-hailing company to start flying passengers on a service called Uber Air in five to 10 years.

歐洲航空公司空客(Airbus)周二表示將投資紐約的一家航空初創(chuàng)公司Blade，并與其建立合作伙伴關(guān)系，在全球更多城市擴(kuò)大Blade的直升機(jī)呼叫服務(wù)。優(yōu)步(Uber)的首席執(zhí)行官達(dá)拉·霍斯勞沙希(Dara Khosrowshahi)表示，他預(yù)計(jì)這家招車(chē)公司會(huì)在5到10年內(nèi)推出一個(gè)名為“空中優(yōu)步”(Uber Air)的飛行載客服務(wù)。

In November, Boeing acquired Aurora Flight Sciences, a company specializing in flight systems for pilotless aircraft, for an undisclosed sum. Before the acquisition, Aurora had been working with Uber to develop a flying taxi. And Joby Aviation, a startup in Santa Cruz, California, building its own air taxi, said this month that it had raised $100 million in venture funding from a consortium of investors including the venture capital arms of Intel, Toyota Motor and JetBlue Airways.

11月，波音收購(gòu)了專(zhuān)研無(wú)人駕駛飛機(jī)飛行系統(tǒng)的公司極光飛行科學(xué)(Aurora Flight Sciences)，未公開(kāi)收購(gòu)金額。在此次收購(gòu)之前，Aurora公司正與優(yōu)步合作，研發(fā)飛行出租車(chē)。而一家正在研發(fā)自己的空中出租車(chē)的初創(chuàng)公司——位于加利佛尼亞圣克魯斯的喬比航空(Joby Aviation)本月表示，一個(gè)包括英特爾(Intel)、豐田汽車(chē)(Toyota Motor)和捷藍(lán)航空(JetBlue Airways)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資部門(mén)在內(nèi)的投資者財(cái)團(tuán)已向其注入一億美元風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資。

“This is the natural progression of the vehicles we make,” said Ben Bridge, head of global business for Airbus Helicopters. “We want a seat at the table and a voice in the conversation that is happening.”

“我們的載具制造走到這一步是很自然的，”空客直升機(jī)(Airbus Helicopters)全球業(yè)務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)人本·布里奇(Ben Bridge)說(shuō)。“我們想擁有一席之地，也想加入這個(gè)正在進(jìn)行的對(duì)話(huà)。”

Flying cars even played a bit role in the recently settled legal fight over trade secrets between Uber and Waymo, the self-driving car service spun out of Google. 甚至在優(yōu)步和Waymo——從谷歌拆分出的無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)服務(wù)商——最近達(dá)成和解的商業(yè)機(jī)密官司中，飛行出租車(chē)也扮演了個(gè)小角色。

In court testimony this month, Travis Kalanick, Uber’s former chief executive, said he had heard that Larry Page — the chief executive of Waymo’s parent company, Alphabet, who has a side project building new types of aircraft — was upset because Uber was “doing their thing” with flying cars.

在本月的法庭證詞中，優(yōu)步前首席執(zhí)行官特拉維斯·卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)表示，他聽(tīng)說(shuō)拉里·佩奇(Larry Page)——Waymo母公司Alphabet首席執(zhí)行官，他另有一個(gè)制造新型飛機(jī)的副業(yè)項(xiàng)目——之所以不滿(mǎn)，是因?yàn)閮?yōu)步在飛行汽車(chē)領(lǐng)域“做了他們擅長(zhǎng)的事”。

Whatever you imagine a flying car to be — stop. What these companies envision is something like a helicopter but much quieter and more affordable. Think of a hobbyist’s drone, but big enough to fit people. It would, in theory, be welcome in urban environments and affordable to more than well-heeled businesspeople. At least, that’s the dream.

不論你想象的飛行出租車(chē)是什么樣——別想了。這些公司所設(shè)想的是某種類(lèi)似于直升機(jī)，但更安靜、更便宜的東西。想想一個(gè)業(yè)余愛(ài)好者的無(wú)人機(jī)，但大小足夠載人。理論上，這在城市里會(huì)很受歡迎，也能讓除富商以外更多的人負(fù)擔(dān)得起。至少，是這么夢(mèng)想的。

Before there can be too much enthusiasm for these flying taxi services, it’s worth noting that self-driving cars have yet to turn into a notable business for anyone, despite about a decade of research at tech giants like Google and billions in investment from Silicon Valley and the auto industry.

在人們對(duì)飛行出租車(chē)的熱情泛濫之前，值得一提的是，盡管有著谷歌這些科技巨頭十多年的研究，以及硅谷和汽車(chē)產(chǎn)業(yè)上億的投資，目前還沒(méi)人能把無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橐粋€(gè)大型產(chǎn)業(yè)。

Regulators are just starting to agree on rules for large-scale tests of self-driving cars on public roads. How would they deal with flying taxis? The details of the future service are far — very far — from being ironed out. 監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)剛剛才就公共道路上的無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)大規(guī)模測(cè)試達(dá)成一致。他們又將如何對(duì)待飛行出租車(chē)?這項(xiàng)未來(lái)服務(wù)的細(xì)節(jié)還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有解決。

Still, there are some reasons for the new enthusiasm. Battery improvements and the wide use of drones have spawned technological breakthroughs. The taxis would take off and land vertically like a helicopter, so they’d take up less room. Because they would be battery-powered, they would be more environmentally friendly.

但新近再次掀起的熱情也是有些理由的。電池的改進(jìn)和無(wú)人機(jī)的廣泛使用催生了技術(shù)突破。飛行出租車(chē)可像直升機(jī)一樣垂直起飛、著陸，占用更少空間。因?yàn)樗鼈冇呻姵毓╇?，所以也?huì)更加環(huán)保。

For now, Airbus executives hope to gain from Blade’s experience with an app that allows customers to reserve a seat on a helicopter. Airbus is expected to invest up to $15 million in Blade, which would represent about a 10 percent stake in the company, according to a person who is familiar with the transaction but not permitted to discuss the investment details publicly.

現(xiàn)在，空客的高管希望借助Blade的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，這家公司開(kāi)發(fā)了一個(gè)應(yīng)用，讓顧客可以預(yù)定直升機(jī)上的坐席。據(jù)了解這一交易但不被允許公開(kāi)討論投資細(xì)節(jié)的知情人士稱(chēng)，空客對(duì)Blade的投資預(yù)計(jì)高達(dá)1500萬(wàn)美元，大約是10%的股份。

Both companies see helicopters as an intermediate step until a new type of aircraft and taxi service hits the market. Rob Wiesenthal, Blade’s chief executive, said a quieter and less expensive alternative to helicopters “opens up a whole new world.”

兩家公司都將直升機(jī)視為新型飛機(jī)和出租車(chē)投放市場(chǎng)之前的一個(gè)過(guò)渡。Blade首席執(zhí)行官羅布·維森塔爾(Rob Wiesenthal)表示，更安靜、更便宜的直升機(jī)替代品“打開(kāi)了一個(gè)全新的世界”。

Airbus said it was preparing for a test flight by year-end for its CityAirbus aircraft, which carries up to four passengers and can reach a cruising speed of about 75 mph. It plans to deploy the CityAirbus in 2023.

空客公司表示，他們正在為CityAirbus(城市空中巴士)在年底之前的試飛做準(zhǔn)備，該飛機(jī)可搭載四名乘客，巡航速度可達(dá)每小時(shí)75英里左右(約合每小時(shí)120公里)。公司計(jì)劃在2023年將CityAirbus投入使用。