eVTOL

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.

Having introduced a massive heavy-lift drone at the end of October, Volocopter is now looking to show what the aircraft can do through a new partnership with John Deere, with the two developing a version customized for spraying crops.

Announced today, the Volodrone is cut from the same cloth as Volocopter's electric passenger aircraft that sports 18 rotors and is electric-powered, but sports an attachment system underneath to carry heavy loads of all shapes and sizes.

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.

Six months after revealing its five-seat electric VTOL aircraft, German startup Lilium has shown it flying at speeds over 100 km/h (62 mph), and moving between VTOL and winged flight, in a new video.

Automotive design legend Frank Stephenson speaks about biomimicry and the Lilium project in part two of our interview.

Bell has joined the cargo drone space with its APT 70, which has just nailed its first autonomous test flight.

​With plans already in the pipe to lift its flying taxis into the air over Dallas and Los Angeles, Uber has now added Melbourne, Australia, to the list. The announcement marks the first pilot city outside the US for the forthcoming but highly speculative Uber Air service.

​While we've seen some "flying cars" that require a runway, there's no doubt that what most people really want is a vehicle that takes off and lands more like a helicopter. Well, the Aska may be the answer … when and if it reaches production.

Skai some big waves last month with the launch of its long-range hydrogen-powered eVTOL air taxi prototype. In an interview with New Atlas, Skai's CTO tells us these flying commuters will cost about the same per mile as an Uber ride, and that he expects to be able to land them just about anywhere.

A new electric VTOL air taxi company came out of stealth mode today, using a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain that neatly sidesteps the energy density issue that's holding back battery-powered aircraft. Alaka'i Technologies' Skai machine has a range of up to 4 hr/400 mi and a five-passenger capacity.

A Ford-funded study by the University of Michigan has examined the environmental credentials of electric VTOL aircraft for commuting, compared to both regular and electric cars over a range of commuting distances. The results paint an interesting picture of future mobility.