robotaxi noun [C]
UK /ˈrəʊ.bəʊ.tæk.si/ US /ˈroʊ.boʊ.tæk.si/
a taxi that is driven without being controlled directly by humans
AutoX already has more than 100 robotaxis deployed in five Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Wuhan. Over the next year, it aims to double its reach to more than 10 local cities. Whether the company can pull humans from behind the wheel in other markets depends on local regulators, Xiao said.
[edition.cnn.com, 8 December 2020]
Vaxi Taxi noun [C]
/ˈvæk.si.tæk.si/
a taxi that picks people up from their home and takes them to a clinic for their Covid-19 vaccination, with the person sometimes being vaccinated while they are sitting in the taxi
A new “Vaxi Taxi” scheme which sees black cabs transport people to pop-up coronavirus vaccine clinics in London has been launched. The pilot scheme, funded by the Covid Crisis Rescue Foundation, aims to help ferry supplies and patients to temporary clinics set up in faith and community centres across the capital … “We are aiming to have pop-up vaccination clinics across London eventually, with a fleet of Vaxi Taxis to help set them up in community centres and faith centres,” said Dr Raymond.
[www.standard.co.uk, 21 February 2021]
eVTOL adjective, noun [C]
UK /i.ˈviː.tɒl/ US /i.ˈviː.tɑːl/
abbreviation for ‘electric vertical take-off and landing’: an electric aircraft that is able to take off and land vertically, going straight up and straight down from and to the ground
Some might call eVTOL aircraft “flying cars,” but they’re more accurately called electric helicopters. A regular helicopter is a VTOL (as in it takes off up-and-down vertically, rather than rolling down a runway like an airplane), and if you make it electric, then it’s an eVTOL. Basically, every modern consumer drone from DJI or Skydio is a miniature eVTOL. Those small drones are good at carrying small cargo like cameras or vaccines, but now eVTOLs are getting bigger. Much bigger.
[inverse.com, 20 April 2021]