The Ehang 184, a people-carrying drone unveiled at CES in January, is set to start trials in Las Vegas.
Trials of the system will launch in Las Vegas later this year, according to reports in the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Ehang is working with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems, which is run by the local Nevada government. The Institute says that it "looks forward to the day when drone taxis are part of Nevada’s transportation system".
The trial is unlikely to be cheap – it's estimated one vehicle will cost between £130,000 and £200,000.
"It will be a first for the state of Nevada and for the United States," said Ehang co-founder George Yan.
The vehicle is 440 pounds, has eight rotors and is apparently able to lift a person 500 metres into the air.
It can then fly them around for 23 minutes before its battery runs out. The drone uses uses Google Maps to navigate and avoids obstacles automatically using a range of sensors.
Human overseers in "command centres" will ensure the drone taxis are safe, according to Ehang, though no such command centres exist yet.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
