What began with an unsuccessful Kickstarter in 2017 is about to break out as a thrilling new aerial sport later this year, following the announcement by Alauda Aeronautics of the successful completion of its 250th Airspeeder racing eVTOL test flight.

We first got wind of an ambitious plan by Matt Pearson to develop a piloted eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) flyer to race on courses around the globe as part of a thrilling new sport in 2017. Following a proven design path from the automotive world, the high-speed sport would also serve as a technology testbed to move urban air mobility forward.

With this test-flight milestone in the bag, the development team is now looking ahead to the first Grand Prix series races later this year.

“In 2019 we set about an ambitious mission to hasten the electric flying car revolution by going racing,” said Airspeeder founder, Matt Pearson. “Since then a remarkable team of designers, engineers, technicians have made giant leaps forward, enabled by our partners, among them some of the most celebrated names in technology, motorsport and even the luxury industry.

“In completing our 250th test we prove that racing is not only a practical and accelerative test-bed and a viable and fast route to commercialization. For an industry predicted to be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040 we are proving the application of this truly world-changing technology. This is just the beginning and we can’t wait to introduce the world to this true next-generation motorsport through 2022.”

Future plans for Alauda include the development of a performance eVTOL based on the Airspeeder technologies, but built for private use.