eVTOL

Austrian boat-builder Silent Yachts is already known for its line of solar-powered catamarans. Now, the company has announced its Silent 120 Explorer superyacht, which includes spaces for an eVTOL and a personal submarine.

These strangely-shaped twisted-toroid propellers look like a revolutionary (sorry) advance for the aviation and marine sectors. Radically quieter than traditional propellers in both air and water, they're also showing some huge efficiency gains.

Looking like a cross between a helicopter and a fixed-wing airplane, ASKA’s full-scale A5 eVTOL prototype is currently capable of both driving and flying. It stole the show at CES 2023, earlier this month.

The means of carriage needn't be the means of locomotion, says Node Air, and logistics for passengers and cargo will work better with detachable pods that can connect to air or ground vehicles as needed. It's teamed up with JetX to pursue its vision.

The Cavorite X5 is a fascinating eVTOL air taxi design, capable of splitting its wing covers apart to reveal its vertical lift fans, or closing them for high-speed, long-range cruise flight. Horizon has now started flight testing its prototype.

Hot on the heels of Lilium's Phoenix 2 demonstrator, Israel's Air has released video footage of its two-seat personal eVTOL prototype transitioning to cruise flight, marking the start of the company's bid for FAA certification.

NASA has contracted Virginia's Advanced Air Company to design and build a prototype of a new type of transition-capable eVTOL drone – a tilt-wing concept that uses aerodynamic forces instead of actuators to tilt the wings and propulsion systems.

France's H3 Dynamics has presented a self-contained hydrogen propulsion pod for drones and airplanes, delivering huge range and endurance figures without heavy batteries. It mirrors the approach Airbus and others are taking with commercial airliners.

Kit helicopter manufacturer RotorX has stepped into the personal eVTOL fray with its own take on the manned multicopter. The Dragon promises to zip you around at up to 63 mph (101 km/h), with joystick control, auto-landing, and a ballistic parachute.

Aura Aerospace has proposed a crazy new take on advanced air mobility. The five-seat Ranger looks like Darth Vader's shuttle when it's folded up, but it promises to fly further than any normal airliner, with roof-to-roof vertical takeoff and landing.

There are very few full-size aircraft capable of transitioning between vertical takeoff and landing and wing-borne horizontal cruise flight, so it's a big deal when a company manages the feat, as Archer has now claimed. But the video is a shocker.

You'll have to pilot this next-gen aircraft yourself – although that'll be easier than you'd think. Lift Aircraft says it'll take you less than an hour to learn to fly its Hexa eVTOL, and then you're off on a unique and spectacular sightseeing trip.