Juan Antonio Martin Checa’s Post

The Future Takes Flight: Autonomous eVTOLs Transforming Air Mobility A new era of transportation innovation is unfolding with the introduction of autonomous electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts. These advanced air mobility (AAM) systems promise to revolutionize urban and regional transportation by offering efficient, sustainable, and rapid transit solutions, transforming daily commutes and cargo deliveries. eVTOL technology, enabling vertical ascent, hovering, and landing, is gaining traction in both academic research and commercial ventures. Its advantages over traditional aviation include alleviating ground traffic congestion, reducing travel times, and lowering the carbon footprint of air travel through electric propulsion. Global urbanization is pushing conventional transport infrastructure to its limits, creating a need for more efficient solutions. However, integrating eVTOLs into mainstream transportation networks faces challenges such as ensuring safety, establishing regulatory frameworks, and gaining public acceptance. Autonomous eVTOLs must demonstrate fail-safe operation under diverse conditions to gain regulatory and public approval. Regulatory bodies like the FAA and EASA are developing guidelines tailored for eVTOL operations, covering pilot training, vehicle certification, and air traffic management. Public acceptance is crucial, requiring manufacturers and policymakers to address concerns over noise, safety, and privacy. Despite these challenges, the potential benefits of eVTOLs are undeniable, offering faster travel and reduced environmental impact. As technology progresses, eVTOLs will integrate with smart city infrastructure and air traffic systems, promising a new dimension of connectivity in our urbanized world. . . #eVTOL #AirMobility #technology #ev #new

While air-taxi manufacturers are facing mounting challenges—from financial difficulties to regulatory delays—there's increasing skepticism about whether the market size has been overestimated. This has left many wondering: Is the hype surrounding passenger eVTOLs sustainable? Meanwhile, a quieter revolution is taking place in the freight market for cargo eVTOLs, a sector with immense potential that has so far seen limited competition. Unlike air taxis, logistics-focused drones don’t require the same level of regulatory hurdles, making them a more feasible near-term solution. CargoTron, is among the few dedicated players shaping this emerging market. Our PD250 cargo eVTOL is designed to meet real-world logistics challenges with 250 kg payload capacity, 600 km range and unique wing-folding capability, enabling operations in confined spaces. The future of aerial logistics is just beginning to unfold, and we're excited to be a part of this transformation. What are your thoughts on the untapped potential of cargo eVTOLs? Let’s discuss in the comments! #eVTOL #CargoDrone #LogisticsInnovation #Sustainability

#sundaythoughts - Uber Elevate 2.0, the hype goes on? Parking spase is at a premium in cities, with eVTOLs requiring a lot more space, and costly at least 10 times more, than a BYD family car, and there is a need for dedicated vertipads and vertiports on premium rooftop space or open spaces, so only the few very rich families will own and operate an eVTOL, that is if they are willing to swap their helicopter for one. Realistically you can't compare a $300k plus EHang (NASDAQ: EH) 216S with a $30k Tesla Cybertaxi on cost per mile or energy efficiency or safety, when it comes to taxi services, so it's a premium mode of transportation for HNWIs and C-Suite business travellers.

I recently noticed several news items in the domain of eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts). Indian company ePlane is targeting 2026 for the commercialization of its e200x eVTOL. Their government is pushing air taxis because of worsening traffic congestion. Eve Air Mobility obtained a $50 million loan from Citibank to accelerate its eVTOL aircraft development. In China, Xpeng Aeroht broke ground on the world’s first assembly line for flying cars, marking a major milestone to mass adoption. There are many reasons why eVTOLs are among the most underestimated innovations in the mobility sector. There’s media bias, reporting a lot about failures. Many people also seem overly focused on the drawbacks. The clichés are that eVTOLs are loud, have limited range, are much too expensive to produce, difficult to scale, not inclusive, potentially unsafe and it will be a challenge to integrate them in the existing traffic. Though some of these challenges are (temporarily) real, I also feel that people claiming this have a bad case of linear thinking. The tech behind eVTOLs is already very mature, and I believe that scaling them will have an important impact on mobility. eVTOLs are all about speed and comfort, which are very important characteristics in this day and age. They are also incredibly safe, because that is just how the aircraft industry is regulated. Much more than traditional automotive, in fact. Yes, they may still be expensive, but A. that’s peanuts compared to traditional aircrafts and helicopters and B. their cost will be sure to go down when scaled. Their limited range will expand with the latest developments in batteries. Also, they will co-exist with all other vehicles and will only be useful for the more limited trajectories in areas where ground mobility is a challenge. Last, but not least, they are also a LOT less noisy than helicopters. Business model wise, I see this evolve along a dual track approach. In the short term, this will develop like Elon Musk’s approach at Tesla: starting with limited premium luxury carriers for a more well-off audience to secure the funds needed to invest in growth. I do not see this evolve toward a mid-market after that, though, ownership-wise, but in the longer term there is potential for a shared business model. Like the Uber model, where people can order an eVTOL via an app. And in some cases where ground transportation is difficult, as some sort of public transportation, like a flying bus. People lack imagination when it comes to eVTOLs. They see limitations and challenges and don’t think in terms of potential. They also think linearly, comparing them to cars, which is of course very different. I do not see a future where everyone will own a “flying car”. But I see a future with an extremely diverse stack of mobile carriers, where each of them can be used for specific niche trajectories. The age of “one family, one car” is coming to end. This next phase will be about choices. 

I was thinking about getting a Xiaomi Su7 but this looks even cooler. Given China’s leading position in EV, low altitude drone tech, and innovative approach to regulations, can’t say as it is surprising we’ll see the first big flying car push there. Commercial orders begin this year. Sure it will be a while before mass adoption, but as this is happening now in China - give it 5-10 years before we start seeing these and other drone taxis around cities.

The next frontier of urban air mobility is coming closer. Electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles, or eVTOLs, are being tested in cities around the world. With over 85 years of experience in understanding and predicting weather conditions and enabling aviation safety, Vaisala has a key role to play as eVTOLs come into use. Vaisala's Fernando Trolia Slamic summarizes how eVTOLs will be used in the near future. 📺 Learn more about how we are shaping the future of the skies with weather intelligence 👉 https://bit.ly/3W89D2O #Vaisala #eVTOLs #TakingEveryMeasure

Flying cars have been a part of fantasy and sci-fi stories since the early 1900s, but they have yet to reach the actual skies. Now, flying cars, or electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (EVTOLS), are closer to becoming a reality than they ever have been before, with firms in the U.S., Europe, and Asia all working on developing these vehicles. Major companies and startups are investing in this technology, which could transform transportation by offering faster, quieter, and more environmentally friendly travel options. Check out this article to learn more about EVTOLS, the technology behind them, and the promise and challenges of the EVTOLS market. 

Ultra-short takeoff and landing plane rakes in $8 billion in pre-orders In all the buzz around eVTOLs, there's still plenty of appetite for more conventional electric planes – especially, it seems, if they make ludicrous amounts of lift, and can take off and land at incredibly slow speeds, using absolutely tiny runways. Electra's hybrid-electric STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft is one such plane. When it hits the market, it'll carry nine passengers, and a pilot, plus luggage, up to 500 miles (805 km) at a cruise speed around 200 mph (322 km/h). It'll run eight electric props along the leading edge of the wings, as well as large flaps hanging from the trailing edges. This allows a "blown lift" aerodynamic effect powerful enough that it'll lift off at a speed of just 35 mph (56 km/h). Why eSTOL? And it'll accelerate to that speed quickly – meaning that you can use a runway smaller than a soccer pitch. Electra says it'll operate from airfields as small as 300 x 100 ft (92 x 31 m), and in the video above, seems to imply that'll fit on the top of some buildings. Either way, it's one-tenth the size of a standard runway, so even if these things won't open up as many spaces as eVTOLs, they'll still be extremely flexible. Plus, as investors are no doubt pleased to note, it functions more or less as a regular plane, so the path to certification and commercial deployment should be much smoother and easier to navigate, with plenty of precedents and fewer unknowns than the eVTOL teams face. Electra flew a two-seat prototype in November, as shown in the video above, and it'll continue flight tests as it works on a full-scale nine-seat prototype that's scheduled to fly in 2026. The target date for certification and entry into service is sometime in 2028. And the market is listening, it seems. Electra says it's taken pre-orders for more than 2,000 aircraft, worth more than US$8 billion. That's considerably higher than the biggest pre-seller in the eVTOL field – Vertical Aerospace, which has 1,500 aircraft pre-sold for a total over $5 billion. That's pretty fascinating – eSTOL represents a much more conventional approach with far less disruptive, world-changing potential than eVTOLs, which in theory could have us zooming from rooftop to rooftop in and around urban areas within a few years. But the market likes this small-runway, half-electric, nine-passenger, regional-capable proposition enough to sign $8 billion dollars' worth of pre-orders – eight times as much revenue as Cessna brings in a year, according to Growjo. Seems odd to us, but such are the times!