eHang's eVTOL air taxi will cost buyers less than $350,000 (in China)

While some other urban air mobility startups are still just producing renderings, eHang's EH 216 eVTOL has already been tested and cleared for commercial air taxi work in its home country of China. The company has now gone a step further, by announcing the retail price.

So first of all, we won't keep you in suspense any longer.

If you'd like an EH 216-S (as it's now known) of your own, be prepared to shell out 2.39 million RMB. That's about 332,304 US dollars, and it will take effect as of April 1st … no joking. It should be noted that the figure is the official suggested retail price, in China.

For readers who aren't familiar with the EH 216-S, it's an unpiloted eVTOL aircraft which flies on eight coaxially mounted pairs of propellers – for 16 props in total – and autonomously ferries two passengers up to 30 km (18.6 miles) between charges at a top speed around 130 km/h (81 mph).

After debuting at CES in 2016, the aircraft proceeded to receive its Type Certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China last October.

In December it achieved its Standard Airworthiness Certificate, leading to first deliveries of the eVTOL to corporate clients – these parties will reportedly be utilizing the EH 216-S in scenarios such as low-altitude sightseeing and urban tourism. Later that same month, the EH 216-S completed its first-ever commercial flight demonstrations in the cities of Guangzhou and Hefei.

In a press release issued this Thursday (Feb. 1st), eHang stated that it "believes the pricing will more effectively cater to the market needs and further enhance the value of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) and UAM [urban air mobility]."

Source: eHang