Self-flying drone can carry 500 pound pods for 300 miles and replace delivery trucks

Self-flying delivery drones are becoming more and more popular in the cargo delivery industry. Most of them are moderate in size and carry outsized parcels. San-Francisco-based aerospace startup Elroy Air is trying to break into the cargo industry and make a revolution with its giant drone called the Chaparral. The heavy-duty drone can carry 500 pounds of cargo for 300 miles. The idea is to replace truck routes that are hard to cover on land. “We want to be like the Ford F-150 of the sky,” Elroy CEO David Merrill told Forbes.

Six rotors installed on the Chaparral allow the cargo drone to take off and land vertically. And a rotor attached to the tail end lets it cruise at a brisk pace. Since it doesn’t need a runway, the drone doesn’t require an airport. It doesn’t even need an electric charging station, thanks to its “hybrid-electric powertrain,” according to the Elroy’s official website. It will be charged from a battery installed near the bow of the pod-like drone.

Rather than carry cargo inside a cargo hold, the Chaparral system will be able to pick up cargo “pods,” allowing for efficient loading and unloading while the drone is still in the air. That’s apparently a compelling vision to investors: the company announced today it had raised $9.2 million in a seed round.

The uses for the cargo drone aren’t limited to simple delivery routes. The Chaparral system could be used to improve disaster response or help out during remote military missions and transport humanitarian supplies, like food, water, and blood. But commercial cargo remains the priority of the company, as it helps move all the stuff ordered online: clothes, books, gadgets, whatever. Because of its size the Chaparral needs a landing zone the size of six car parking spaces.

But the startup still has a lot to prove to investors. Elroy is hoping to begin testing this year. But the concept will likely take a number of years of development before it can take to the skies commercially. The startup is also at risk of facing some steep competition with the likes of Boeing developing their own — and strikingly similar— cargo drone technology.