Flying Vehicle Featured Early at CES 2025

A flying vehicle stole the show before the CES exhibition even opened, as the Helix flying vehicle from Pivotal was parked in the middle of a media-only event the night before.

The vehicle stood out among hundreds of other technology exhibits in the auditorium at Ceasar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Credit: Chuck Martin

The official CES exhibition area, consuming the Las Vegas Convention Center along with several other hotel venues around the city, opens for the week starting on Tuesday.

Pivotal CEO Ken Karklin told me the Pivotal seen Monday night would be the only showing in Las Vegas, since it was being presented exclusively for the media in advance of CES.

An earlier version of the Pivotal was featured at the same event last year, held at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

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On Monday night, media attendees lined up to take photos of the flying vehicle, a common occurrence for showings of this new category of electric aerial vehicle.

The Pivotal Helix is a tilt aircraft with eight fixed rotors and tandem wings. It can emergency land on water and fly with a maximum wind of 20 miles per hour.

The flying vehicle, which falls in the category of powered ultralights, does not require a pilot’s license to fly it. 

Related:Flying Vehicle Featured Even Before CES 2024 Opens

This is the first category of flying vehicles to hit the market, starting this year.

Like other flying vehicles in this category, flight time is about 20 minutes or about 20 miles, due to current battery technology limitations.

An additional potential use for such flying vehicles is for emergency medical personnel, which Pivotal showed could be faster than a traditional ambulance in a recent test demonstration.

Pivotal started with the Blackfly flying vehicle, which it still uses for testing to identify potential enhancements for the newer Helix, which has already been sold to several buyers, Kirklin said.

Shipping of the Helix is expected to start this year.

Air taxis and certified flying vehicles that require a pilot’s license are coming, but not until starting until later in 2025, due to regulatory requirements.