Electric, self-flying, vertical takeoff taxis are coming to New Zealand

Enlarge (credit: Kitty Hawk)

For years, rumors have swirled about Kitty Hawk, a flying car startup that has been lavishly funded by Google co-founder Larry Page. Last year, Kitty Hawk unveiled an awkward-looking contraption that worked something like a flying jet ski.

But now we know that Kitty Hawk had something more ambitious in the works: a small, electric aircraft called Cora, which flies horizontally like an airplane but has the capability to take off and land vertically. On Tuesday, the company unveiled the new vehicle.

"Cora is self-piloting, which means that to get where you need to go, you don't need a pilot's license," says Eric Allison, Kitty Hawk's vice president for engineering. Cora can fly up to 110 miles per hour and has a range of 62 miles.

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