Manufacturing Company Airspeeder

Airspeeder: The Hydrogen-Electric eVTOL Racing Pioneer

If Formula 1 had wings, it’d be wearing Airspeeder livery. Born from Alauda Aeronautics and the brainchild of Matt Pearson, Airspeeder is rewriting motorsport from the skies. Headquartered in London and engineered down under in Adelaide, this electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) racing series is more than adrenaline—it’s a proving ground for tomorrow’s mobility. With hydrogen-electric multicopters, zero emissions, and sci-fi-grade cockpits, Airspeeder aims to make flying cars a reality by first making them race. And that’s not just for spectacle—it’s R&D at 225 mph.

Inside the Airspeeder Mk4: Specs That Turn Heads

The Airspeeder Mk4 isn’t your weekend drone or prototype tease—it’s a full-fledged, crewed flying racecar. Sporting eight propellers arranged in an octocopter layout and wrapped in carbon-fiber skin, it hits 360 kph (225 mph) in 30 seconds flat. Power? A Thunderstrike hydrogen turbogenerator feeding a lightweight electric drivetrain with 300 km (188 miles) of range. And it's not flying blind—LIDAR, radar, and machine vision create a bubble of awareness around the pilot. Add to that AR visors streaming telemetry and race graphics mid-flight, and you’ve got a cockpit that feels half Maverick, half Mario Kart.

Engineering Innovation Through High-Speed Competition

Airspeeder's track is the sky, and competition is the catalyst. Its remotely piloted EXA Series laid the groundwork, and 2024 marks the launch of the fully crewed Grand Prix. This is where battery breakthroughs, thermal management, and stability control get pushed to their limits. Telstra handles simulation, Acronis protects the tech stack, and EMG Connectivity handles the live feeds for fans worldwide. In short, every race is a pressure cooker for solving real eVTOL problems before they hit urban skies. This flying motorsport isn't just showing off—it's tuning the future of UAM under extreme conditions.

Leadership and Aerospace Collaboration at Its Core

It takes more than guts to launch a flying car series—it takes a team of lunatics and legends. Felix Pierron steers design, Bruno Senna—yes, that Senna—puts the prototypes through their paces, and Wisk Aero’s former CEO, Gary Gysin, now helps steer the ship. Backers like Saltwater Capital and DHL aren’t just logos; they’re financial fuel. Fox Sports Australia and DAZN have locked in broadcast deals, taking this high-speed circus global. The team behind Airspeeder doesn’t just dream big—they’re building a whole new motorsport from scratch, with real cash and serious industry muscle.

Hydrogen-Powered Racing with a Sustainability Mission

Carbon emissions? Not here. The Airspeeder Mk4 is fueled by hydrogen-electric power, delivering high-speed thrills without coughing fumes into the troposphere. Founder Matt Pearson isn’t shy about the bigger picture—he wants racing to seed real-world clean-air mobility. Medical response, logistics, short-hop passenger flights—all benefit from tech honed at 300 kph. And with modular vertiports designed alongside HOK, Airspeeder isn’t just flying—it’s helping lay the groundwork for the future UAM grid. It’s motorsport with a conscience, and that rarest thing in racing: purpose.

Education, Community Outreach, and Infrastructure Focus

It’s not all speed and flash. Airspeeder runs factory tours and education programs like its Kangaroo Island outreach to inspire the next wave of engineers and pilots. The modular vertiport concept doesn’t just serve the track—it’s designed to pivot into year-round service hubs for drones, medevac flights, and even festival transport. By integrating with schools and communities, Airspeeder is sowing the seeds for mass eVTOL adoption long before the average citizen ever steps into a flying machine.

Challenges in Scaling Flying Car Motorsport

Make no mistake—this isn’t an easy win. Airspeeder’s had its share of hiccups, like the 2019 Mk II crash at Goodwood that briefly flirted with Gatwick airspace. Since then, hardware, software, and safety protocols have matured, but the transition from unmanned flights to full-blown crewed races adds complexity fast. Regulatory hurdles with the UK’s CAA and Australia’s CASA still loom large. Sponsorship money is strong for now, but this sport burns through cash like hydrogen through a turbine. And public trust? Still a work in progress. That said, few others are even trying to solve these problems in public—and at race speed.