Air Taxis

Electric VTOL air taxis are one of the great emerging technologies of our time, and there are a ton of companies hoping to be early to market with a fast, safe, comfortable eVTOL aircraft for 3D commuting. Here's a roundup of the key players.

Brazilian eVTOL innovator EmbraerX has put forth a fun video showing how a multi-mode 3D transport system might work, with an eVTOL air taxi carrying a detachable glassed-over cabin that it delivers straight onto a self-driving car chassis.

Just last month, air mobility company EHang announced plans to fly into Europe and set up shop in Seville, Spain. Now the firm has partnered with the City of Hezhou in Guangxi Province, China, to build a tourism-focused terminal for its air taxis.

This eVTOL air taxi design looks like a weird helicopter/plane hybrid, but it's the safest of all the eVTOL designs we've ever seen, and it has another killer advantage in that it requires no special certification. Very cool news for 3D commuting.

Back in January, China's EHang aced the first flight in the US of its two-seat autonomous air taxi. Now the company has agreed to develop the first Urban Air Mobility pilot program in Seville, Spain.

With the backing of aviation giant Boeing and a pilotless 13-rotor transitioning VTOL airframe from Kitty Hawk, Wisk Aero is preparing to launch an autonomous air taxi service trial on the South island of New Zealand, complete with actual passengers.

Joby Aviation has been beavering away hammering out the designs and flight dynamics of its awesome-looking tilt-rotor eVTOL for more than 10 years. Now, Joby's got half a billion dollars in the bank thanks to a huge investment led by Toyota.

After offering a look at its vision for flying taxis at last year's CES, Bell has returned to Las Vegas with what it considers a new and improved version, featuring an all-electric mode for zero-emission travel over urban centers.

Hyundai has used the grand platform of CES 2020 to unveil its take on the future of urban mobility. At the heart of its plans is its S-A1, an electric flying taxi developed with Uber.

As legions of eVTOL companies struggle to get their air taxi operations off the ground, one California company is saying to heck with it, we've already got the technology to make cheap, fast air commuting possible.

A fascinating chat with one of the companies at the forefront of the electric VTOL commuting revolution. Lilium is proceeding with flight testing, and says it'll have meaningful air taxi services in operation by 2025.

With the ability to carry up to 250 kg of payload at speeds up to 80 km/h, the 12-rotor Seraph is Britain's leading electric VTOL air taxi candidate. Vertical Aerospace has released video of this chunky bird in flight.