Airbus A³, the advanced projects branch of Airbus Group based in Silicon Valley, is on track to have a full-size prototype of its electric autonomous air taxi, Vahana, take its first flight before the end of this year. Come 2020, the company hopes to launch a product demonstrator. In the midst of the Uber electric VTOL excitement, Airbus has been on the road, sharing Vahana’s progresses, at events including Uber’s Elevate Summit, the 2017 Nvidia GPU Technology Conference (GTC) and the Assn. for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s (AUVSI) Xponential.

Arne Stoschek, head of autonomous systems for Airbus A³, gave a presentation at GTC, updating attendees on computing technologies and impending flight operational challenges. He was also presented during the Uber summit in Dallas at the end of April. Vahana project lead Zach Lovering sat on a panel — which included Uber’s director of engineering for advanced programs, Mark Moore — to tell Vahana’s story during Xponential in Dallas May 10. The program is on track, they said, and electric urban air mobility is a cause to which the company is committed.