Air Taxis

Seven years after its first test flight, German electric air taxi manufacturer Lilium has run out of funding, and filed for insolvency for its two subsidiaries. It failed to raise an emergency injection of $54 million to continue its operations.

In a major jump into the era of eVTOL air taxis and multicopter cargo drones, the US FAA has issued new regulations that introduce the first new aircraft category, called "power-lift" aircraft, since modern helicopters were introduced in the 1940s.

Volocopter's plans to trial air taxi passenger flights from a floating platform on the River Seine during the Olympics have been thwarted by bureaucracy. However, the company has managed to kick off the eVTOL operational validation phase.

Eve has unveiled its first full-sized prototype eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) air taxi today during the UK's 45th Farnborough Airshow. It's called the Eve Air Mobility.

Vertical Aerospace has pulled back the hanger doors on the second full-scale prototype of its four-passenger VX4 tilt-rotor eVTOL. The latest flavor has been given a significant power boost, and features proprietary batteries for the first time.

In a stunning validation of hydrogen's potential in aircraft, Joby Aviation has made an incredible 523-mile non-stop flight with its S4 eVTOL air taxi. That's more than triple its range on batteries, and an absolute landmark moment for clean aviation.

After nailing its first full-size eVTOL transition in 2022 with the Maker, Archer Aviation has revealed that its Midnight aircraft has successfully transitioned from hover to horizontal flight, before going on to clock speeds of over 100 mph.

Vermont's Beta Technologies has emerged a leader in the eVTOL space, and it's now become the first to perform a successful transition – from helicopter-style hovering to airplane-like cruising – with a pilot on board.

How did we miss this one? This Spanish eVTOL has been flying in prototype form for a number of years now, using a unique 4x4-prop FlyFree tilting mechanism designed to keep the cabin level – and a new five-seat design takes things up a level.

There are now a number of companies working on eVTOL "air taxis," most of which look a bit like larger versions of consumer quadcopter drones. The eCopter is different, however, in a way that could make it more likely to see real-world use.

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

Three months after its first takeoff, the production-spec Midnight air taxi has finished the first phase of flight testing. With the release of a new video, Archer says it expects to fly this next-gen machine with human pilots on board this year.