UAM: Urban Aerial Mobility
eVTOL: Electric Vertical Take Off And Landing (Red.)
10 eVTOL Development Programs to Watch in 2021
A list with the
latest program developments for some of the top eVTOL aircraft makers in the
world right now.
UAM Port - Ill.: Hyundai
The last 12 months have featured some of the fastest
moving technological innovation, regulatory, and partnership advancements toward
enabling a future urban air mobility ecosystem where electric vertical takeoff
and landing (eVTOL) air taxis will one day fly new purpose-driven mission sets
across a variety of civilian and defense operations.
Considering the rapid pace that the companies building
the actual vehicles, or air taxis that are to serve these mission sets over the
last year, some have emerged as closer to making eVTOLs that were mostly
computer-generated three-dimensional concepts and drawings a few years ago into
a reality by the mid to late 2020s. In this article, we selected 10 companies
that are developing VTOL aircraft that are all-electric, hybrid, and
gas-powered with a plan in place for future alternative sources of electric
power.
While there is no ranking order to the list, all of
these companies are highlighted based on achieving recent major regulatory,
technological or business-related program milestones associated with the VTOL
vehicle that they're developing.
Tell us who we missed in the comments!
Joby Aviation (Marina,
California)
Range: 150 miles
Cruise Speed: 200 mph
Power: Six electric motors
Seating: One pilot and four
passengers.
Latest Program Developments: Joby has established a new certification
agreement with
the Federal Aviation Administration for its S-4 all-electric air taxi, a major
step toward the company's goal of operating the aircraft commercially by the
mid-2020s. The S-4 was also awarded military
airworthiness approval in December 2020. A civilian version of the aircraft will be
certified using the FAA’s Part 23 requirements with the special conditions
listed in the G1 added to account for the unique nature of the aircraft.
Details about the conditions within the G1 agreement have not been released and
are expected to be published by the FAA later in 2021. Joby is projecting a
2024 commercial entry into service for its eVTOL.
Jaunt Air Mobility (Dallas,
Texas)
Range: 80 miles
Cruise Speed: 175 mph
Seating Capacity: One pilot, four passengers
Latest Program
Developments: Jaunt Air Mobility was involved in a series of industry partnerships
over the last year designed to help acquire the aircraft components and
infrastructure elements necessary to enable a future UAM ecosystem that allows
its Journey air taxi to perform several civilian applications ranging from
passenger services to medical evacuation operations. The largest of these
recent partnerships is the one established
with Varon Vehicles Corp. to develop new "Vertiports" in various
Latin American countries, starting with Colombia. Throughout 2021, Jaunt Air
Mobility will work with Varon Vehicles to understand the unique transportation
needs in Latin American cities and will help define the operations and
integration of its Journey aircraft into service. This will kickstart the
building blocks necessary for the early demonstration of the Jaunt Journey
aircraft and Varon Vehicles’ operational vision. Jaunt is targeting 2026 for
full-rate production of its air taxi.
Archer Aviation (Palo Alto
Airport, California)
Range: 60 miles
Cruise Speed: 150 mph
Power: Battery-electric tilt rotor
Seating: One pilot, four passengers
Latest Program Developments: The only publicly available
images of Archer Aviation's aircraft are sleek outlines of a dark exterior with
six rotors affixed to a long wingspan sticking out of both sides of a small
futuristic-looking one-panel fuselage. Archer was given a major boost of confidence
on Feb. 10 by completing
an agreement with United Airlines committing to a future purchase of 200
electric aircraft produced by Archer. Once the aircraft is in operation and has
met United's operating and business requirements, United, together with Mesa
Airlines, would acquire a fleet of up to 200 of these electric aircraft that
would be operated by a partner, according to United. Archer also recently
announced a partnership with Fiat Chrysler to utilize the companies low-cost
supply chain to accelerate the production of Archer’s eVTOL aircraft. Archer is
projecting a 2024 entry into service for its air taxi.
Volocopter (Bruschal, Germany)
Range: 22 miles
Cruise Speed: 68 mph
Power: Nine lithium-ion battery
packs, brushless DC electric motor, 18 rotors
Seating: Two passengers, with room
for hand luggage.
Latest Program Developments: Volocopter is the only
eVTOL developer that has received design organization approval from the
European Union Aviation Safety Organization (EASA) and is on the verge of
receiving certification for its VoloCity air taxi. Between 2018-2020, the
company conducted public demonstration flights of its aircraft in Stuttgart,
Germany, and Singapore's Marina Bay. In September, during an appearance at
Berlin's Greentech Festival, Volocopter launched 15-minute flights on its air taxi
for €300,
which can be reserved for €30 that can be redeemed within the first 12 months
of commercial launch. The German company has not committed to a firm timeline
but expects to launch
commercial services using VoloCity within the next few years.
Volocopter is anticipating a 2024-2025 launch for its first commercial VoloCity
flights.
Lilium (Munich, Germany)
Range: 186 miles.
Cruise Speed: 186 mph
Power: 36 electric motors powered
by a 1 MW lithium-ion battery.
Seating: One pilot, four passengers
Latest Program Developments: Under a new agreement
established in November 2020 with Tavistock Development Company, Lilium is
developing a new
electric air mobility network in Lake Nona, Florida.
Lilium and Tavistock have a partnership with the City of Orlando to deploy the
new network, with a location that was selected based on its proximity to
Orlando International Airport. Lilium specifically described its new concept of
operations as a "high-speed electric air mobility network" in their
release, emphasizing the significance of the need for electric infrastructure
in the city to support their 2025 vision. The Lilium Jet is currently
undergoing certification testing with the EASA and the FAA, and the company is targeting a
2025 launch of commercial services.
Wisk (California and New Zealand)
Range: 25 miles
Cruise Speed: 100 mph
Power: 12 independent electric
battery-powered lifting propellers.
Seating: Two passengers.
Latest Program Developments: The company has been
steadily building a long-term vision to establish autonomous
air taxi operations globally, beginning with the electric two-seat Cora aircraft that
has flown more than 1,400 times between seven full-scale aircraft in Hollister,
California, and New Zealand. Wisk was established as a joint venture between
Boeing and Kitty Hawk, which could prove vital for access to engineers,
certification specialists, and policy experts as the company looking to make
its self-flying air taxi operations in New Zealand a reality soon. In November
2020, a new
partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will
research and develop solutions that can enable the integration of Cora into
U.S. airspace.
Airbus (Toulouse, France)
Range: 60 miles
Cruise Speed: 75 mph
Power: Eight 100 kW electric motors,
eight fixed-pitch propellers
Seating: Four passengers
Latest Program Developments: In 2020, Airbus operated
flight testing demonstrations using their all-electric
CityAirbus demonstrator at its helicopter manufacturing sites in
Donauworth and Manching, Germany. Airbus Helicopters, the division of Airbus
managing its CityAirbus program, in January started in-flight tests onboard a
modified H130 equipped with technologies specifically geared toward achieving
future eVTOL certification. Flight tests started last April when the
demonstrator was used to measure helicopter sound levels in urban areas and to
particularly study how buildings may affect people’s perception. The French
aircraft manufacturer also has an entire Urban Air Mobility (UAM) unit, first
established in 2018, dedicated to developing future eVTOL aircraft, traffic
management, and infrastructure solutions.
Ehang (Guangzhou, China)
Power: Electric batteries.
Seating: Two passengers.
Latest Program Developments: Ehang's major program wins
and milestones for the EH216 including a series of autonomous flight
demonstrations over densely populated areas and research project and
partnership wins in Europe between late 2020 and early 2021. In Paris, Ehang is
leading a "Re.Invent Air Mobility" initiative to establish a future
UAM ecosystem with new infrastructure and airspace integration procedures and
technologies ahead of the city being a prospect for the 2024 Olympic and
Paralympic Games. Elsewhere in Europe, the EH216 is also the only passenger
vehicle that is participating in the “Safe and Flexible Integration of Advanced
U-Space Services for Medical Air Mobility," (SAFIR-Med). The SAFIR-Med
project will take place in collaboration with healthcare providers like hospitals
and medical spaces to provide demonstrations in the cities of Antwerp
(Belgium), Aachen (Germany), Heerlen (the Netherlands), and Maastricht (the
Netherlands). On Feb. 16 however, Ehang came under controversy after Wolfpack
Research, a global financial research firm, published a report entitled
"EHANG: A STOCK PROMOTION DESTINED TO CRASH AND BURN." Ehang responded
the same day it was published by directly refuting claims in the report, which
notes the company has "perpetuated its story with a collection of lies
about its products, manufacturing, revenues, partnerships, and potential
regulatory approval of its purported main business." These latest
developments make Ehang a company to monitor in 2021 and beyond, as the
autonomous aircraft developer can either show why Wolfpack's claims were true
or false.
Vertical Aerospace (Bristol,
U.K.)
Range: 100 miles
Cruise Speed: 150 mph
Power: Eight electric battery-powered
propulsors.
Seating: One pilot, four passengers.
Latest Program Developments: Between October 2019 and September
2020, Vertical established major supply chain footholds for the physical and
software elements of their VA-1X all-electric air taxi, images of which were
first released in August 2020. In October 2019, Vertical acquired MGI
Technologies, a Formula One engineering, and R&D firm, bringing in-house
the ability to rapidly design and build accurate lightweight composite
fuselages, conduct crash and fatigue analysis, aerodynamic testing, and more.
Honeywell Aerospace has signed on to supply the VA-1X’s flight control systems.
In January, the U.K. government-funded Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI)
Program awarded a two-year £2.3 million smart charger development project to
pioneer a new wave of aviation battery development. 2021 will be a crucial year
for the development of the VA-1X, because Vertical still does not have a
physical prototype constructed, but expects to gain EASA type certification and
production approval for their air taxi by 2024.
Urban Aeronautics (Tel Aviv,
Israel)
Range: 93 miles
Cruise Speed: 145 mph
Power: Electric motors and
hydrogen fuel cell stacks.
Seating: One pilot, five passengers.
Latest Program
Developments: 2020 was a transformative year for Urban Aeronautics after the company
signed a partnership with global EMS operator Hatzolah Air to develop, produce
and market the CityHawk in collaboration with the service’s air medical
professionals. The initial
version of the CityHawk is being developed as a pure VTOL aircraft,
powered by two Arriel 2N turboshaft engines supplied by SAFRAN. However, around
the same time the development partnership with Hatzolah Air was established,
Urban Aeronautics also signed an agreement with Hypoint to develop hydrogen-powered
fuel cell stacks for a future zero-emissions version of the CityHawk. In
January, upon announcing its first four pre-orders for air medical
configurations of CityHawk from Hatzolah Air, the Israeli manufacturer said the
aircraft is “planned to complete its development and FAA certification for EMS
use and be ready for production within three to five years.”
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