Vertaxi’s full-scale M1 prototype is entering ground tests at the Jinshan UAV base near Shanghai.
Chinese startup Vertaxi has unveiled the first full-scale prototype of its Matrix 1 (M1) electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft and detailed plans to enter the market first with an uncrewed cargo version.
The prototype was assembled at the Jinshan uncrewed aircraft test site on the outskirts of Shanghai.
The M1 is a 2,000-kg (4,400-lb.) gross-weight lift-plus-cruise eVTOL aircraft with a wingspan of 15 m (49 ft.). The vehicle has four wing booms carrying 16 lift rotors for vertical flight and four propellers for wing-borne cruise flight. The tail connects the booms to the rear fuselage. The aircraft has a maximum payload of 500 kg and a 3.5 m³ (124 ft³) flat-floor cabin that can accommodate 32 standard postal boxes, Vertaxi says.
The M1 prototype will now enter several months of ground testing at the Jinshan UAV base. Vertaxi’s goal is to type certify the M1 first for the cargo market and then select suitable rural and remote locations such as islands and mountainous regions to begin trial operations and start accumulating operational experience and data.
The Shanghai-based startup says it is pursuing a development path of “suburbs before cities, objects before people, isolation before integration.” This will begin with the uncrewed cargo configuration and gradually transition to crewed operation, and then finally applying the aircraft to passenger-carrying urban air mobility (UAM) services. The company completed a second funding round in December and has so far raised 150 million yuan ($22 million).
The Chinese eVTOL market has become increasingly active and competitive in recent months. Aerofugia, a subsidiary of Chinese carmaker Geely, flew a full-scale uncrewed prototype of its AE200 five-seat eVTOL in January. AutoFlight, a Shanghai-based startup with operations in China and Europe, has so far flown four full-scale generations of its piloted three-passenger Prosperity 1 eVTOL. Volkswagen Group China has also flown a full-scale prototype of its V.MO uncrewed four-passenger eVTOL.
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