Japan set up a new consortium called ECLAIR for Electrification Challenge for Aircraft – electric planes in other words. Members include the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as well as industrial heavyweights from Mitsubishi over Kawasaki to Subaru.
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Audi homebase Ingolstadt is to become a first testbed for VTOLs jointly developed with Airbus. Their Urban Air Mobility project is part of a European initiative that includes other cities such as Geneva or Hamburg.
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In Oslo an electric mini-plane made by Slowenian manufacturer Pipistrel took off for a short test flight with the Norwegian minister for transport Ketil Solvik-Olse. The Alpha Electro G2 aircraft was piloted by Dag Falk-Peterson, head of the state-owned company Avinor, which operates Norwegian airports.
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Frankfurt Airport (FRA) operates an extensive electrification strategy. As it is Lufthansa’s home base, the airline complements the airport’s efforts and has turned to Sweden’s Kalmar to order their 700 kW eTug that can tow very large jets emissionfree.
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The ride-share company Uber is working on the development of electric air taxis and announced their first research and development center outside of the USA, which will open in Paris in Fall this year.
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The US startup Zunum, which is supported by Boeing, has found its first customer for the twelve-seated hybrid aircraft: The California-based charter company JetSuite will purchase up to 100 of the hybrid aircraft.
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Uber has brought their latest flying cab design to their second annual Elevate conference in Los Angeles. The ride hail company hopes to be using their drone-like “flying car” for personal taxi transport as of 2023.
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Bye Aerospace, or better, Hi electric flying, as the start-up’s Sun Flyer 2 has successfully managed its maiden flight. The two-seater electric plane runs on Li-ion batteries by LG Chem and is said to be capable to stay airborne for up to 3.5 hours.
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German startup Volocopter presents infrastructure for its electric flying cab service in the making. It consists of so-called Volo-Ports leading to Volo-Hubs, designed to shuttle thousands of passengers through each day. Volocopter wants to launch the first within 10 years.
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US American Wright Electric has found a new partner for its dream of electric short haul flights. Dubai’s Jetex entered a partnership agreement that will see the two companies collaborate on producing the first electric aircraft for the MENA region.
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The Slovakian company AeroMobil has presented their concept for a flying car. The AeroMobil 5.0 VTOL is a purely electric four-seater, that can take off and land vertically. It is to be market ready in the next 7 to 10 years.
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The Israeli aviation company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is planning to develop a fully electric airplane with a range of around 900 km. The first prototype is planned to take to the skies in three years.
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Backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, Kitty Hawk formerly known as Zee-Aero, has finally launched its electric, autonomous air taxi Cora. It is a VTOL with two seats and twelve electric motors and got the backing of New Zealand’s new prime minister.
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Audi, Italdesign and Airbus have introduced Pop.Up Next, an all-electric, fully automatic concept for horizontal and vertical mobility. Basically, the concept features a two-seater cabin that can be attached to either a car or a flight module.
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Recently Airbus launched a series of tests with their autonomous, electric vertical-take-off-and-landing aircraft, although they were only about a minute in duration, and only a few meters above the ground. A video shows the VTOL in action.
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The Swiss electric plane startup H55, headed by solar pioneer André Borschberg, has completed its first round of financing with help from NanoDimension, a venture capital firm from Silicon Valley.
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The israeli startup Eviation Aircraft, which raised some eyebrows at last years Paris Air Show with the prototype of its electrical light aircraft “Alice”, has officially announced the source for the batteries they will be using in their planes: South Korea’s Kokam.
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A three-engine, hybrid-electric airplane was unveiled by the British aviation startup and will be called the Starling Jet. It will be able to take off and land vertically, and offers 10 seats. A flight range of up to 2,400 km is made possible by burning diesel once airborne.
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Ehang impressed the world with its concept of a passenger drone already at the 2016 CES. Two years later, the first video of said autonomous drone, this time carrying a human indeed has gone live.
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Airbus has completed the first real-air test with its electric VTOL Vahana. The self-flying aircraft reached a height of 5 metres for almost a minute in Oregon. On top, Airbus found a new partner for propulsion in MAGicAll.
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Joby Aviation is another new name in the electric aviation business and is coming in hot with an impressive 100 million dollars in funding and backers such as Intel, Toyota and JetBlue. Plans include an all-electric, five seated vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
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Boeing has invested in Berkeley-based Cuberg, a startup which counts former students from Stanford University among its founders. The researchers are working on a lithium metal battery for potential aerospace applications.
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The Scandinavian country intends to extend its pioneer role in transport electrification to the sky: Avinor, the state-owned operator of the country’s airports, says that it targets to run all short-haul flights of up to 1.5 hours fully electric by 2040.
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British start-up Autonomous Flight is working on a drone capable of carrying commuters from central London to Heathrow airport in 12 min. The Y6S VTOL is set to take-off this year and the company is not alone in its ambition to take the last virgin airspace left.
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AirSpaceX, previews its electric flying cab Mobi-One in Detroit. The VTOL is to carry up to 4 passengers plus luggage between airports and U.S. cities with roll-out set for 2026.
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U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing presents the prototype of an unmanned VTOL model, capable of carrying a payload of up to 225 kilos. The aircraft’s dimensions are 4.57 x 5.49 x 1.22 metres, it weighs 339 kilos and features eight counter rotating blades.
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The Slovenian manufacturer successfully completed first test flights with its 2-seat electric aircraft in Australia. Just a few months ago, it received a Special Certificate of Airworthiness from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
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Airbus and Williams Advanced Engineering have agreed to focus on ultra-lightweight materials, battery technologies and cell chemistries. These are to be used in Airbus’ Zephyr programme.
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London’s largest airport has reached a key milestone on its route to total electrification with the addition of its 50th electric vehicle to its fleet.
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Airbus, Siemens and Rolls Royce announce a hybrid airplane ready to take-off in 2020, thus bringing the dream of electric flying in close proximity. The E-Fan X will fly regional routes first and serve to propel electric aviation.
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