Photograph: DJI
DJI wasn’t at CES this year, so this isn’t strictly a CES announcement. But the company decided to put out its news right smack dab in the middle of the world’s biggest tech event, so it’s getting pulled into the gravity of it.
Today, the Shenzhen, China based drone company announced that its FlyCart 30 delivery drone will be coming to an international market. It’s the biggest drone DJI has made, capable of hauling more weight than any of the company’s other models. It can handle winds up to 26 mph. It can carry up to a 66 lbs load over a distance of 10 miles on a single battery charge. For a much reduced range of about five miles, the drone can hold a maximum 88 lbs.
DJI is positioning it as a drone that can be used in emergencies when remote locations need supplies or parts for repairs, or in disaster situations like hurricanes or wildfires. The big flying machine has been operating in China since August 2023, flying parts to solar farms and other remote use cases. The payload can be lowered on a built-in cable and winch system, and guided into tricky landing situations via a camera that feeds back to the operator’s controller handheld.
“This is more like a pickup than a Tesla,” Wayne Baker, a former fire chief and emergency management coordinator in Texas who now works for DJI, told WIRED. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s an affordable consumer-level drone—the FlyCart 30 starts at $42,000.
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