A PhD, but no brains: "we saw a huge potential market in urban air mobility," says CEO Alex Ivanenko, PhD. Nobody is going to let air taxis fly over people anytime soon, if ever, and if they accidentally did anyhow, it's only going to take one crash and a pile of dead people below, before everyone else realizes how stupid that idea was and they never get permission to fly over people ever again. No taxi will ever be viable when it's not allowed to operate near customers...

The problem with hydrogen is that all it takes is one small leak and ker-friggin-boom, you're toast. Hydrogen becomes flammable at just 4% in air, and explosive at 18.3%. In the closed structure of an aircraft, there would have to be some serious safety measures, ie H2 sensors everywhere, and some form of emergency venting. Having seen hydrogen explosions, I'm petty sure you wouldn't get me in any aircraft (or other vehicle) using it.

Vaporware until put into a working demonstration full size.

“[S]uitable lithium battery technology might be as much as 15 years away.” Actually, it might not be that long. But the situation would not be better. Why? Because even if the ideal battery was here today, it would still need to be charged. This would require a grid capacity that we do not have -- and time to charge it that we also do not have. Meanwhile, a fuel cell can refuel in minutes and be ready to go -- perhaps around the clock since there is so little to wear out. Hidden in this is a national security component. Inevitably, future wars (and peace-keeping) will be carried out by flying drones that are independent of the terrain and can move in unison in all directions -- under central control. Like a swarm of bees, they could be deployed into an area of conflict and effect destruction (or protection) the likes we have never seen -- or have imagined. It is wise, therefore, for every country to develop its own fuel cell technology early. This proved prudent in the case of the internal combustion engine. The countries that had the most experience with this engine were able to use it to their advantage in all sorts of things during WWII.

finally a decent looking design , have to ask are they missing the simple fact that hydrogen is the best heat transfer fluid known , a hydrogen car radiator would be 1/10 the size of water filled ones. For doubters , BMW have tried setting fire to their liqified tanks of hydrogen , nothing exciting happened , try holding a beach ball under water , imagine something 10 times as buoyant, but unconstrained ,you have to get hydrogen in a sealed container to get any kind of bang , as the man said O2 is more dangerous

""HyPoint's "turbo fuel cells" promise huge range and power for eVTOLs"" Excellent write up Loz, complimenting exactly my points in the last 5 articles. Electrics is going to blow the competition to oblivion ! !

Wow, so many comments with opinions that need challenging. Christopher, if man had been meant to fly, God would have given him wings. Spud, you didn't read the article- it completely refutes your claim of "ker-friggin-boom". George, the power still has to come (mostly) from the existing power grid- H2 is not freely available in nature, it must be freed from the chemical compounds in which it resides- H2 is an energy storage system, not an energy source. Mark, mostly correct, but the hydrogen must be mixed with an oxidizer first, and then contained before ignition to get a BOOM. Vince, completely correct. Now fo my comment- this article would make a lot more sense if a schematic of the device were included.

Well, air taxis may have just been given a workable power source. Permitting's gonna be a beeyotch, tho. Best of luck to the Alchemists in question, three Sergeis and an Alex. LOL They have a marketable buzz phrase and a potentially exciting new power density to work with. I still don't see a consumer market, except perhaps in-town urgent deliveries between businesses, which may be enough for them to succeed when they get this to market. More power to ya, dudes! (groan)

Swap-able battery packs. Ultra capacitor charging station so you don't "drain" the grid. Simple solutions.

People are so worried about the safety of these things, they don't realize that they will be far safer (yes, even with Hydrogen on board) than a current helicopter, which has a DISMAL safety record compared to commercial airliners and about double the failure rate of private planes. Aviation will always have SOME amount of risk, but this technology is inevitable one way or another. Now let's just hope it's not too noisy if it becomes really popular (helicopters and jets are annoying enough as is!)...