eVTOL

Farmers and ranchers have a lot of land to cover, and a lot of work to get done in a day. The Ryse Recon was designed with those facts in mind, as it's being made to quickly fly rural users from place to place.

Shanghai's TCab Tech has become one of China's leading eVTOL contenders, claiming it's now made many test flights validating its 50-percent scale prototype air taxi design in vertical lift and hover mode, as well as transitions to winged cruise flight.

eVTOL makers say these electric air taxis will be so much quieter than helicopters that they'll be able to put hundreds of them in the air without annoying city residents. Well, let's see – Joby Aviation and NASA have released acoustic test figures.

An interesting intersection between the future and past of human mobility this weekend, as Israeli company Air chose the Kentucky Derby to debut the full-size prototype of its Air One, a two-seat, buy 'n' fly personal eVTOL aircraft focused on fun.

Orlando startup JetX is planning a configurable eVTOL "flying car" chassis, and testing a quiet, modular propulsion system that vectors thrust from bladed or bladeless fans without tilting them, opening up some interesting design possibilities.

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.

Joby has announced it's back in the air after crashing one of its two eVTOL prototypes during testing in February. The company says it's continued making progress on multiple fronts of the labyrinthine task of FAA certification during its downtime.

Japanese eVTOL company SkyDrive has announced it's going into partnership with Suzuki, as it works toward the development and full-scale production of a "compact, two-seating electric-powered flying car," which it hopes to debut at the Osaka World Expo in 2025.

The emerging eVTOL industry is drawing in enormous investment money on the promise of clean, cheap, quiet electric air taxis – but it all started with a NASA engineer's research project back in 2009. Enjoy a look back at some of our early coverage.

Joby Aviation has announced an accident during flight testing of its market-leading eVTOL aircraft prototype. Flight tracking data appears to show the aircraft was being pushed over 270 mph, well beyond its advertised top speed of 200 mph.

Chinese eVTOL company Autoflight has released video of its first unmanned transition flight, moving from vertical lift to wing-supported cruise at speed. The video is a perfect demonstration of the common "lift & cruise" style of eVTOL design.

When it comes the the eVTOLs Joby Aviation is making as many moves as anyone, and its latest centers on new mobility options for the people of Japan, with plans to establish a local aerial ridesharing service with the country's largest airline.