EVTOL news and progress - do we need a new dedicated section?

[Winemaker]

Originally Posted by ETOPS

Joby Aviation press release about Dubai operation



Whilst I fully agree that this is a bit “showcasing” by Dubai it will, nevertheless, give Joby a real world test of their capabilities. A number of rotations around these short hops without recharging should reveal actual endurance and operability.

https://www.jobyaviation.com/news/jo...i-service-uae/

An issue here is what market will this serve? Most airlines passengers are not rich persons able to afford the luxury of an EVTOL ride to where ever, they are people visiting relatives or going on vacation et al. My point is that the development and implementation of these aircraft, which honestly seems unlikely by the numbers, benefits and serves a very small portion of the traveling public. Yes, electric craft would be nice assuming the infrastructure for generating the electricity to power them is some sort of green generation, but with 83 million passengers in the US last year, what impact will these possible craft have on fuel consumption vs driving to the airport? Seems like a rich persons limo.

[ETOPS]

An issue here is what market will this serve?

It's Dubai - think of it as a very complex fairground ride.

Seems like a rich persons limo.

Probably cheaper than some of the posh cars seen along the Sheikh Zayed Road!
But seriously this will get the concept and operation moving forward just like the Paris Volocopter shuttle at the Olympics.

[wrench1]

Originally Posted by Winemaker

An issue here is what market will this serve?

The UAM market, which has been around for decades but had no viable vehicle/aircraft to serve it at the street level until. That is until the eVTOL technology evolved to its current level. There are a number of large metropolitan areas globally that have had a UAM plan ready for years. Now those plans are being dusted off and put into place.

As to cost, I believe the target for a number of eVTOL providers is the similar to Uber Black costs which I think is around $7.00 USD per mile. But I believe your pax number is a bit low. UAM will not change the existing spoke and hub system, it will merely supplement that system with a new level of service that will be easily accessible to many more people. So the projected usage numbers are in excess of the 83M in the US with higher percentage increases overseas.

If you want more details there are plenty of AAM, UAM, and RAM studies out there with the EASA and FAA having some in-depth ones.

[EDLB]

IMHO it will go the same route a SST. Remember the Boeing 2707 or Concorde. For an enormous amount of money and noise you create a relative small advantage. In the end the market will decide. It competes with a taxi ride. Transport time to the airport is in todays world the lesser time eater. Those seconds you gain will be lost standing in the TSA security check in line anyway.

[ETOPS]

Transport time to the airport

As wrench1 mentions above the Urban Air Mobility plans don’t necessarily involve airport transfers.

Think about a drive from Simi Valley to anywhere in the east side of the Inland Empire versus a quick hop in a flying Uber….

[ETOPS]

Have to admit I'm not 100% familiar with this design by Skydrive but their latest press release contains some fairly important backing from Suzuki..

Japan – March 7, 2024 – SkyDrive Inc., a leading Japanese eVTOL (*1) aircraft manufacturer, today announced the start of production of its highly anticipated “SKYDRIVE (SD-05)” (*2) aircraft at Suzuki Motor Corporation’s (“Suzuki”) manufacturing plant in Iwata-city, Shizuoka, Japan. This marks a significant milestone in SkyDrive’s mission to revolutionize urban air mobility.

The first riveting ceremony took place on March 6, 2024, attended by Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President of Suzuki, Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO of SkyDrive, all employees from Sky Works and other representatives. The ceremony marked the beginning of production and served as a symbol of the collaboration between SkyDrive and Suzuki.

https://en.skydrive2020.com/archives/12380

https://en.skydrive2020.com/

[ETOPS]

Here's a video of a recent demo flight by yet another Chinese eVtol company call Autoflight. It's a 50km point to point from Shenzen across the Zhujiang River Estuary to Zhuhai - basically following the northside of the route of the Hong Kong- Macau bridge.

You Tube

[AeroAds]

I can’t post the link as I’m a new user but if you Google "The age of the flying taxi draws closer with the Future of Flight action plan” you’ll see that GOV.UK are throwing money at EVTOL.“Flying taxis, crime-fighting drones and critical 999 care deliveries could all be a reality by 2030 thanks to the government and industry’s joint Future of Flight action plan, announced by the Department for Transport (DfT) today (18 March 2024).

Setting out a roadmap for drones and novel electric aircraft in the UK, the plan details how technology once confined to the realm of sci-fi could transform our skies, with studies estimating drone technology could boost the UK economy by £45 billion by the end of the decade.

It details plans for the first piloted flying taxi flight by 2026 and regular services by 2028, regular drone deliveries across our skies by 2027 and demos of autonomous flying taxis without pilots on board by 2030 – transforming how people and goods are transported."

[Lonewolf_50]

Here is the link.
The age of the flying taxi draws closer with the Future of Flight action plan - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[ETOPS]

For the past 5 years Beta Technologies have been developing their Alia EVTOL - at a deliberately careful pace. This short, simple video details a very important point in their progress which is the first full transition flight. Whilst not a "Wright brothers" moment I believe it sets them forward to full flight testing and ultimately production.

You Tube