United Airlines is bringing electric air taxis to Chicago.

Image Credit: SFGATE Soon, an airport taxi service will be available near you; Chicago will be the first. Short routes that can save your travel time by 50 minutes compared to taking a car are being planned by United Airlines and Archer Aviation. This is expected to be an electric aircraft's maiden commercial journey. In 2025, United Airlines intends to launch an air taxi service in Chicago in partnership with Archer Aviation. Midnight, an aircraft built by Archer, is intended to travel up to 100 miles, however, the firm claims that it is best suited for shorter flights of about 20 miles. Image Credit: Thrillist Midnight has a 12-minute anticipated charge time in-between flights and is meant to transport four people, one pilot, and their luggage. According to Google Maps, the initial route will run from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Vertiport Chicago, taking just approximately 10 minutes as opposed to 45 minutes by vehicle. According to United, prices will be comparable to ground-based ride share. Reduced emissions are an advantage of electric aircraft, but they also have a huge decrease in noise, Archer claims that at 45 dBA, they are over 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter while maintaining a similar cruising speed of roughly 150 mph. An eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft has six batteries with an 800-volt design, each of which can power two motors simultaneously. The demand for this kind of service is anticipated to be quite strong given that Chicago has a population of 2.7 million people and that O'Hare Airport will handle over 68 million passengers in 2022, making it the fourth busiest airport in the world. Many anticipate that this will lead to a surge of electric-powered airplanes, similar to what we've seen with electric automobiles over the past decade, with only two years left before the service debuts. The effectiveness and operating costs of these aircraft will need to be compared to those of petroleum-powered ones.