This is Bell Nexus, the electric flying car concept from the company formerly known as Bell Helicopter. A hybrid-electric propulsion aircraft, the Nexus will use six tilting ducted fans to take off and land vertically from a rooftop or launch pad. This year a new vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) vehicle from Bell landed at the show with a boom. Well, Bell Nexus, the full-scale black, six-rotor vehicle the audience.
Bell describes Nexus as the nexus of transport, technology, luxurious travel, comfort and convenience. It is designed as a four-passenger air taxi for the E-VTOL.
Bell Nexus
As for the Nexus, power will be provided by a hybrid-electric propulsion system, with a gas turbine engine to drive the electric rotors. The craft features Bell’s powered lift concept, incorporating six 8-foot tilting ducted fans that allow Nexus to smoothly transition from vertical liftoff to horizontal flight. Bell spokes person said the craft will initially be piloted, but like autonomous automobile, may eventually operate in robo-mode. Nexus will fit on a typical 40-foot by 40-foot helicopter landing pad, so the craft should be able to land on existing helipads.
The Nexus may look like a gigantic drone, but it is so much more. The 6500-pound aircraft sports six, 8-foot articulated ducted fans. Which facilitate the platform to lift off the ground vertically like a traditional helicopter before rotating 90 degrees. This allows the Nexus for faster air travel much like a plane. The Nexus will carry four passengers and a pilot up to a range of 150 miles and be able to travel that distance in just one hour.
The Nexus fits on a standard 40-foot by 40-foot landing pad. And since the Nexus utilizes a hybrid electric power system, it should be able to fly more quietly and more efficiently than conventional copters.
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