Wow, what a great interview. Knowledgable, informed questions and what appear to be honest and straightforward answers. Well done!

That is SUCH a cool design!
NOWWWW cue the naysayers who will tell us that this is all a dead end, even though you see so many giant companies investing billions...

SWEET succinct video!! What a design!!

More of an airplane than an EVTOl, but look at it as a beta testing device, it should help with pure EVTOL's power system evolution so kudos for doing it. (folding up wings would be nice)

Really appreciate the comments Nibb, guz, and Chairman! We put engineering first and are now just starting to get our story out there now that the foundation is solid. As always, Loz did a great job and we grateful to New Atlas for the opportunity.

Stunning design, well thought out! But a lot hinges on his dad living a long productive life, to iron out all wrinkles before the full-scale production plant is going full tilt!!

But a lovely design, that to me looks very viable! My own thoughts have gone along the same route, that, until we have a new generation of batteries, full-electric vertical landers will not go far, and fast charging huge battery packs will always be an energy-waster of gigantic proportions. Hybrid propulsion is another matter if the electric part is used for boosting take-off and landing, and not much else.

I wish them a lot of luck, and hopefully, people with deep pockets will help to make their idea about tomorrow's flying vehicle a common sight one day!

I almost stopped reading this when they said they were putting a V8 in it! The only way to power it cleanly would be with fuel cells. Fuel cells are being used already in other electric aircraft,so that is what I would like to see in this design. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/zeroavia-zero-emission-hydrogen-planes-spc-intl/index.html The morphing wing design is interesting.

Enjoyed the conversation. Thank you! Great thinking both aerodynamically and energetically.

A question. Concept of the airframe – in part - is based on the knowledge that propellers/fans can be used either for vertical lifting or cruising flight. Never for both. What if you still had some rotors that are equally efficient in either regime. More than that: regulation features provide smooth transition between the two regimes without the loss of control or efficiency at any stage.

Tilting rotors have a complexity that is comparable to that of the newly proposed split wings. Meaning that a switch to them would mean no gain. However, dropping a whole set of props, and using fewer rotors with higher diameters would be a double gain: less weight and higher efficiency. No need to adapt the Joby airframe – the “normal plane” concept can be supported.

There is one drawback to the idea. Universal rotors require prototyping.

What would you think?

Michael, thanks for your input. We chose a hybrid electric solution due to strict engineering requirements distilled from clearly defined early missions for which this aircraft would be used. But you are correct, our goal is - and always will be - zero emissions. Our plan is to go pure-electric the very second that the engineering allows. As for hydrogen - another great point! We are actively monitoring this and are continually assessing its potential use.

Laszlo, we completed a very comprehensive survey of propellers and landed on the current concept after much debate. You are absolutely correct - if I understand correctly - that somehow using the vertical fans for forward flight could represent a source of significant efficiency if conceived intelligently. However, when we investigated this in detail, any mechanism that helped us optimize for both vertical and forward flight dramatically increased complexity. This led to more weight and cost. So, we ended up with a tradeoff that will result in a light, high performance vehicle that is able to fly on efficient and natural wing-borne lift for 99% of its mission. Thank you sincerely for your observations - all are very much appreciated!

Brandon, thank you for the kind words!
I forgot - ideally, this is without tradeoffs: www.stallfreepropellers.com .