All About eVTOLs

It’s the last week of the month and we’re that much closer to electric vertical takeoff and landing transportation.

Let’s dive in.

What you need to know in eVTOLs this week

Eve Air Mobility

AirX Inc., Japan’s largest public helicopter charter service, signed a letter of intent for up to 50 eVTOLs from Eve Air Mobility.

Eve has a goal of 3,000 eVTOLs in operation by 2026 so this is a step in the right direction.

Eve is still working towards certification in their home state of São Paulo, Brazil. If/when that is accomplished they will be the first certified eVTOL company in South America.

Beta Technologies

Beta Technologies achieved the first piloted transition flights with it's eVTOL prototype.

What does that mean and why is it a big deal?

It means the aircraft was able to lift vertically like a helicopter. Once at sufficient height, the aircraft engaged the single rear pusher-propeller to accelerate forward and reach cruise speed. At that point the fixed wing was providing all of the lift (like a plane) so the vertical propellers could power down.

Other aircraft developers have achieved transition flights including Joby, Archer, and Lilium.

But those flights were remotely piloted, whereas Beta does the bulk of its flight testing with pilots on board.

Overair

Paul Puopolo, Executive Vice President of Innovation at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, has an ambitious goal for eVTOLs.

DFW and the city of Arlington announced partnerships with California-based Overair and are developing a strategy for bringing in air taxis.

“We want to be up and running by 2026 when we host the FIFA World Cup.”

“We believe the certification should start coming along in 2024-25, so there could be flights in early 2026—that’s our goal.”

“If we can get the airspace worked out [with the FAA], then we think that the cities and communities will be onboard,” he added.

Archer Aviation

InterGlobe, parent company of IndiGo (India’s largest airline) and Archer Aviation are teaming up to launch an eVTOL taxi service in by 2026.

The traffic plagued nation would benefit from aerial transport just about anywhere. But the first eVTOL route being set up is from Delhi's Connaught Place (the city’s Central Business District) to the Gurugram.

With an estimated flight time of only seven minutes (compared to an hour or more by car), it seems like a no brainer. At least for anyone that can afford the estimated $30 USD cost.

Archer and InterGlobe will own and operate 200 of the 'Midnight' eVTOL’s in a Joint Venture valued at $1 billion. Mumbai and Bengaluru are slated to be the next cities launching eVTOL services.

Honeywell

Did someone ask the oldest guys in the room for their opinion?

Leaders from Honeywell’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems/Urban Air Mobility business unit told journalists at a briefing in London on Friday that it does not expect to see air taxi operations launching until 2026, with another two years beyond then before these scale up significantly.

Honeywell is a massive conglomerate worth $126B that’s been around since 1906, so they might know what they’re talking about…

But Rome wasn’t built in a day and had a solid 1,000 year run.

The Markets

Or “The Casino” if you prefer the Wall Street Bets mentality…

More green than red, but they may have more to do with the broader market this week.

The obvious takeaway is that everything is down significantly from when it went public with the exception of Ehang.

The Life Savings Bet

When you’re at the horse track getting ready to lay down a bet, you have two decisions to make.

First- is this a race I want to bet on?

Second- what horse do I want to put my money on?

I believe eVTOL’s are an inevitable outcome, which answers the first question for me. It’s a race I want to bet on.

So now it’s just a matter of picking the right horse. My horse is Joby and put a $100K bet down.

So are we in the money?!

No. We are not in the money. The brokerage account is at $97K and some change. So down a bit.

Good thing this is a long race. We’re fighting our way back to even.

Lighten Up

Final Question

What city to city connection should be the first to set up an eVTOL route and why? — best reply gets a shoutout next week.

Best Answer From Last Week

I asked “What will be the biggest risk to mass market adoption of eVTOLs?”

Best reply came from Brent in California: “Nothing is going to stop air taxis from becoming a thing. We put a man on the moon. Every other car I see on the road is a Tesla. People fly in little puddle jumper airplanes all the time. eVTOLs aren’t really that big of a leap for society.

I also can’t jump start a car, so what do I know…”

Thanks for reading and let us know what you want to see more of next week. We read every single reply.

Stay above.

— The Above Traffic Team