eSTOL

Electra's aircraft looks conventional enough, but it generates ludicrous amounts of lift, to take off and land at incredibly slow speeds, using almost no runway. With US$9 billion in pre-orders, it's outselling anything from the eVTOL world.

Another day, another wild electrified aircraft concept that reimagines the future of air travel. This time around, it's a turbine-electric hybrid that tilts its ducted electric fans to offer helicopter versatility with airplane range and efficiency.

This remarkable hybrid-electric aircraft has raked in more than US$8 billion on the back of its remarkable promise: quiet, long-range, low-emission flights using almost no runway for takeoff and landing. Watch it deliver in its first STOL test flight.

In all the buzz around eVTOLs, there's still plenty of appetite for more conventional electric planes – especially, it seems, if they make ludicrous amounts of lift, and can take off and land at incredibly slow speeds, using absolutely tiny runways.

Two years ago, American air mobility company Electra announced that it was partnering with the US Air Force on the development of an ultra-short takeoff and landing (ultra-STOL) aircraft. Earlier this month, a demonstrator version of that plane made its first two flights.

Hyundai Subsidiary Supernal is working on a battery-powered eVTOL, but the company is also gearing up to make moves in hydrogen aviation, leveraging its fuel cell auto experience. It's planning an eSTOL regional aircraft with a range over 620 miles.