The world’s first passenger drone capable of autonomously carrying a person in the air for 23 minutes has been given clearance for testing in Nevada. Chinese firm Ehang, which unveiled the electric Ehang 184 passenger drone at CES in Las Vegas in January, has partnered with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (Goed) to put the drone through testing and regulatory approval.

The founder and chief executive of Ehang, Huazhi Hu, said the move would lay the foundation for the 184’s commercialisation and kickstart the autonomous aerial transportation industry.  Over the past five years, Nevada has been positioning itself as a test bed for advanced transport solutions, being one of the first states in the US to permit the testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads.

The company envisages a system where by a passenger simply inputs the destination and the drone takes care of the rest, taking off vertically, flying at altitudes up to 3.5km (11,500 feet) at up to 100kmph (63mph) for up to 23 minutes using eight propellers on four arms.