Electric Aircraft

While Australia's Airspeeder is yet to race its sporty eVTOLs with pilots at the controls, Jetson's founder and CTO Tomasz Patan has taken its One flyer to the air for what's been billed as the birth of the world's first eVTOL air racing.

Swedish startup Heart Aerospace is gearing up for the first experimental flight of Heart X1 early next year, an electric demonstrator of a similar size to its upcoming 30-seater commercial plane. The company aims to launch passenger flights by 2028.

Honda doesn't just want to power future EVs with solid-state batteries; it wants to build the actual batteries. It took a big step this month, unveiling a demo production line that will be used to refine the batteries and manufacturing process.

Small aircraft manufacturer BETA Technologies has rolled the first electric plane off its fully scaled production line in Vermont. You can go along for the ride with this milestone-setting aircraft in a slick new video from the makers.

Astro Mechanica is an aerospace startup developing what it calls a "turboelectric adaptive engine", efficient for both subsonic and supersonic flight ... using electric car motor technology. And the suck-squeeze-bang-blow works.

We've been following Electra's ultra-short takeoff and landing electric hybrid prototype for some time and now the company has unveiled its EL9 Ultra Short production model that is designed to carry nine passengers at 175 knots (201 mph, 324 km/h).

China's EHang has completed what it calls the world's first solid-state battery test in a pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOL. With nearly 500 Wh/kg of energy density, the solid-state battery contributes to a serious boost in endurance.

Austrian flying vehicle tech company CycloTech is building an eVTOL demonstrator to showcase its CycloRotor-powered propulsion system for electric flight. The firm is hoping to commence test flights in early 2025.

Jetson Founder Tomasz Patan is clearly getting very comfortable with the Jetson One eVTOL's flight control system ... Watch him wrench the controls around to show off how sharply – and safely – this thing can handle tight turns in flight.

Electra has shown off the extreme takeoff and landing capabilities of its hybrid-electric Short Takeoff and Landing (eSTOL) Ultra Short prototype aircraft to the US Military. The aircraft is designed to operate from areas without proper airfields.

Low-flying ground effect aircraft can deliver zero-emissions coastal transport that goes a lot further and a lot faster than electric boats – without needing FAA certification. So what happens when you add energy-dense hydrogen fuel to the equation?

It was just this July that we heard about the ES-30, a hybrid-electric airliner being developed by Swedish firm Heart Aerospace. Well, the company has now unveiled a full-scale demonstrator version of the plane, which should fly next year.