Electra.aero was founded on the premise that ultrashort-takeoff regional aircraft enabled by distributed electric propulsion would fly more payload longer distances than vertical-takeoff vehicles while still being able to operate from a similarly constrained urban footprint.
The California-based electric air taxi developer has marked a key flight test milestone by flying a full-size S4 prototype to its design range of more than 150 mi. on a single charge.
Rolls-Royce's Power Generation System 1 (PGS1) demonstrator is designed to pave the way for future hybrid-electric regional propulsion system development.
Beam Global, a manufacturer of solar-powered charging stations for the automotive market, has flown an electric-powered light aircraft between five airports in California to demonstrate the potential for zero-emission aviation.
Having started out with the vision of personal flying using a wearable jet pack, the eponymous JetPack Aviation has shifted its focus to a single-seat vehicle that the startup hopes will form the basis for a range of vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft for special missions.
Airbus has joined Canada’s SAF+ Consortium, which plans to build in Montreal the first power-to-liquids plant to produce sustainable aviation fuel from renewable electricity and captured carbon dioxide.
Eviation aircraft has redesigned its Alice nine-passenger electric regional aircraft, dispensing with some of the original design’s most noteworthy features.
Russian researchers have completed three years of study into a small single-person electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle for multiple missions.
Collins Aerospace has begun building a 500-kW electric motor that will power Hybrid Air Vehicles’ planned hybrid-electric Airlander 10 heavy-lift airship.
Hydrogen propulsion startup ZeroAvia has secured two Dornier 228s for use as test aircraft for development of its 600-kW fuel-cell propulsion system for 19-passenger airliners.
In an exclusive interview with Aviation Week, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun commented on a variety of strategic initiatives, including advanced air mobility. “Wisk is probably the highest on our list as a program I want to do and double down on,” Calhoun says. “It’s electric. It displaces an incredibly inefficient market on urban mobility. Its real big win is noise—this virtually takes noise out of the equation.
UP.Partners is an early-stage venture capital company focused on funding startups developing enabling technologies for advanced mobility. UP was established in January 2020 by Ben Marcus and Cyrus Sigari, co-founders of private jet dealer jetAVIVA and drone airspace services provider AirMap.
California startup Archer Aviation says it is on track to certify a four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle for aerial ridesharing services in late 2024, and will finalize design of a production version using lessons learned from development of the Maker, a two-seat prototype unveiled in Los Angeles on June 10.
Regional air mobility startup Electra has unveiled its first commercial product, a hybrid-electric aircraft designed to fly a pilot and seven passengers up to 500 mi. with takeoff and landing distances of just 100 ft.
NASA has agreed to work with five U.S. state and local governments on how to integrate passenger and cargo advanced air mobility into their transportation plans.
A design tool enabling power trains for electric aircraft to be modeled and optimized early in design has been released by startup LaunchPoint Electric Propulsion Systems.
Advanced air mobility startup Lilium has selected Spanish aerostructures supplier Aciturri to build the composite airframe for its electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi.
