eVTOL

UK company Autonomous Flight has been working on eVTOL concepts for some years now, with several prototypes already flown. Now the company has revealed a six-seat air shuttle called the Y6S Plus that uses an interesting coaxial tricopter design.

Palo Alto's Archer Aviation may be fairly fresh out of the blocks in its tilt at the emerging eVTOL air taxi market, but it's assembling some heavy hitters in its corner with today's announcement that it's partnering with Fiat Chrysler Automotive.

Switzerland's Manta Aircraft is working on a flexible hybrid-electric canard aircraft design that will be capable of VTOL or efficient STOL operations. A one-third scale model has been built, and the team is preparing for its first flight tests.

Germany's Volocopter has committed to launching commercial eVTOL flights in Singapore "within the next two to three years," and advance tickets have already sold out to early adopters eager to take the first joyrides in this electric air taxi.

The future eVTOL air taxi market could be in for quite a shake-up, with reports coming in that Uber has sold its Elevate division to airframe manufacturer Joby Aviation. Uber Elevate was expected to be a major player in the air taxi market.

The US Army is working to better understand the acoustic properties of eVTOL aircraft and co-axial rotors as part of efforts to design quieter, stealthier helicopters.

An Australian company has popped out of stealth mode to reveal a new electric VTOL aircraft that is already at the pre-flight prototype stage. AMSL Aero's Vertiia aircraft can fly up to 500 miles on hydrogen, and will start out as an air ambulance.

Florida's XTI Aircraft has ben working on its TriFan eVTOL concept for at least five years, and while a passenger version is still the key focus, the company has now put forward a long-range, autonomous diesel-hybrid cargo variant.

Austrian company Cyclotech is planning to begin flight-testing an 80-kg (176-lb) demonstrator of its unique electric VTOL airframe, which uses Voith-Schneider propellers instead of rotors for exceptional agility and control in the air.

A feasibility study modeled on the VoloCity multirotor electric air taxi has concluded that electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft would benefit emergency air rescue services. Now the project is looking to begin operational testing in 2023.

At the 2020 World UAV Conference in Shenzhen, Chinese heavy drone company Autoflight unveiled a big new canard-style electric VTOL cargo drone, and announced its intentions to develop a similar aircraft for urban air taxi operations.

Paris Region, ADP and RATP are eyeing the development of an urban air mobility branch ahead of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, and have joined forces with German air taxi startup Volocopter to make it happen.