Wisk Aero, an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) company, revealed the first self-flying, all-electric, four-passenger vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi. As Wisk’s go-to-market aircraft, Generation 6 represents the first candidate for type certification by the FAA of an autonomous eVTOL. Generation 6 combines autonomous technology and software, human oversight... Read more →

MintAir Co. Ltd. signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Jaunt Air Mobility LLC to form a strategic partnership and to purchase Jaunt Journey electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. MintAir has agreed to order up to 40 of Jaunt's aircraft to bring air mobility services to the Korean... Read more →

Joby Aviation, a California-based company developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced an expansion of its existing contract with the US Air Force’s Agility Prime program that increases the contract’s potential value by more than $45 million. Agility Prime, launched in April 2020, is the Air Force’s collaborative... Read more →

Archer Aviation has received a $10-million pre-delivery payment from United Airlines for 100 of the company’s initial production eVTOL aircraft. United is making the deposit on 100 of Archer’s production aircraft which it agreed to purchase in 2021. Archer recently completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its production aircraft—now... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group presented the HMG Smart City master model at the 2022 World Cities Summit in Singapore. The model represents the Group’s vision for smart cities and illustrates how it will empower them with sustainable and smart mobility solutions. The model will serve as a guideline for developing smart... Read more →

Archer Aviation successfully completed all of its “critical azimuth” flight tests, marking the completion of the second of three key phases of flight testing. The purpose of these tests are to validate the crosswind capabilities of Archer’s eVTOL aircraft configuration and flight control systems. The company has now successfully flown... Read more →

Skyports Infrastructure, an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure developer, and AirAsia’s Advanced Air Mobility, a dedicated unit of AirAsia Aviation Group Limited (the aviation arm of Capital A), have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to explore the development of air taxi infrastructure in Malaysia. The partnership between AAM industry... Read more →

Volkswagen Group China unveiled its first electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) passenger drone prototype, as part of its strategy to explore and break new ground in fully electric and sustainable individual mobility concepts. In 2020, Volkswagen Group China launched a Vertical Mobility project to explore the next generation of... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group and Safran, the world’s second-largest aircraft equipment manufacturer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore and identify possible opportunities in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry that would be beneficial to both parties and potential customers. The Group and Safran agreed to explore potential cooperation in various... Read more →

Sensata Technologies has developed a new fly-by-wire inceptor (sidesticks or centersticks used to direct and maneuver aircraft) for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and has provided prototypes to several advanced air mobility manufacturers. A passive inceptor is a cockpit control device through which pilot inputs are collected and... Read more →

Supernal revealed its initial eVTOL vehicle cabin concept at Farnborough International Airshow, providing the first look at how Hyundai Motor Group is integrating automotive capabilities to develop the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market. Supernal partnered with the Group’s design studios to create the cabin concept as the company works to... Read more →

In partnership with NASA, NREL is modeling scenarios that could play out with electrified and regional air transit. The project includes evaluating how smaller airports could supply clean power to both the aircraft and the region. A map of airports in the contiguous United States, of which only 30 service... Read more →

Airbus and Munich Airport International signed a Memorandum of Understanding at ILA Berlin Air Show to start marketing turnkey solutions to cities and regions interested in developing advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystems globally. Airbus is developing CityAirbus NextGen, its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft (earlier post), along with... Read more →

Lilium, developer of an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet, recently announced that its technology demonstrator Phoenix 2 achieved main wing transition. This means it is the first full-size electric jet aircraft to transition from hover to wing-borne flight. This is a landmark moment for Lilium and for electric... Read more →

Lilium N.V, developer of the ll-electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) Lilium Jet, and Livent Corporation, a producer of lithium products for the battery cell industry, will collaborate on the advancement of lithium-metal technology for use in high-performance battery cells. Lilium said that collaborating with Livent, a pioneer in lithium... Read more →

Lilium, developer of an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet, is partnering with Honeywell and DENSO, who will co-develop and manufacture the Lilium Jet’s electric motor that will power the Lilium Jet’s engines. Honeywell is already developing the Lilium Jet’s avionics and flight control systems and invested in Lilium... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) reaffirmed its commitment to expand investment in the US to further its goal to provide sustainable and smart mobility solutions to its US. The Group’s plans, which involve an investment of more than US$10 billion, are designed to accelerate innovation and mobility electrification. Last week, Hyundai... Read more →

Archer Aviation and United Airlines have formed a joint eVTOL advisory committee. The committee is a forum for United to share its expertise on maintenance and operational matters as Archer moves forward in its aircraft development process. The committee will advise on the development of systems and features intended to... Read more →

Joby Aviation, a California-based company developing all-electric aircraft for commercial passenger service, announced the completion and subsequent approval of its first Systems Review and its first Compliance Review by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These reviews, completed at the end of last year, were recently granted approval by the FAA,... Read more →

The Vertical Flight Society (VFS), a non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight, is holding the first public event in the United States on the use of hydrogen and fuel cells for aviation applications. The event, the 1st H2-Aero Symposium & Workshop, is being held 29-31 March 2022, in Long... Read more →

CoFlow Jet, LLC, an engineering and technology company specializing in active flow control using coflow jet (CFJ) technology for aerospace applications, has entered a Joint Ownership Agreement (JOA) with NASA to commercialize the deflected slip-stream (DSS) technology enabled by co-flow jet flow control. Jointly developed between NASA and CoFlow Jet,... Read more →

ANA Holdings and Joby Aviation are forming a partnership that will see Japan’s largest airline join with Joby to bring aerial ridesharing services to Japan. Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) also joined the partnership, with the intention of exploring opportunities such as ground-based transportation. Joby’s all-electric aircraft performing a flight test... Read more →

The exploration of airborne transportation and advanced air mobility (AAM) is the focus of a new partnership between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Supernal—an advanced air mobility company from Hyundai Motor Group (earlier post). Supernal is developing electric, autonomous air vehicles capable of accommodating four to five passengers... Read more →

Eve UAM, the urban air mobility (UAM) business created by Embraer and established as an independent company in October 2020, has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Zanite Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company focused on the aviation sector. Upon closing of the transaction, Zanite will change... Read more →

NASA has selected four university-led teams for potential awards in the agency’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI) that will have them spend up to five years exploring novel ideas for improving aviation, including eliminating emissions and autonomy research in support of Advanced Air Mobility. Three of the four teams are working... Read more →

Archer Aviation announced that Maker, Archer’s eVTOL demonstrator aircraft (earlier post), completed its first successful hover flight. The flight marks the completion of the company’s first full and complete systems test and validation of every hardware and software component working as intended to move the aircraft into the air. The... Read more →

Element 1 Corporation has entered into a global agreement with NEXA Capital Partners LLC to accelerate the adoption of its methanol-to-hydrogen generators (earlier post) for fuel cell applications in aerospace and particularly electric vertical aircraft (EVA). Element 1 and NEXA are combining their expertise, along with NEXA’s capital market access,... Read more →

To conclude the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Renault 4, the car maker teamed up with motion design hub TheArsenale to create a futuristic showcar, reinterpreting this iconic model. More than 8 million units of the small economy car were sold in more than 100 countries between 1961 and... Read more →

Rolls-Royce and Etihad Airways formalized their common interest in decarbonizing air travel by signing a comprehensive agreement facilitating the development of sustainable aviation as part of Etihad’s broader strategic sustainability program. Rolls-Royce believes that its innovations in electrification and use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) hold the keys to unlock... Read more →

Archer Aviation Inc., a developer of eVTOL aircraft, announced that the FAA has issued a CoA and the Aircraft Limitations covering Maker, Archer’s flagship demonstrator aircraft. Maker is a full-scale electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, capable of traveling 60 miles at 150 mph. The CoA and the Aircraft Limitations... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) is launching a new company called Supernal, LLC to take its future mobility vision forward. An evolution of HMG’s Urban Air Mobility Division, Supernal is developing a family of electric air vehicles and convening public and private stakeholders to shape the emerging Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)... Read more →

The Urban Air Mobility Division of Hyundai Motor Group announced the expansion of its Airspace Management Consortium with the introduction of Skyroads (formerly D3 Technologies), Altitude Angel and OneSky to the industry working group. The Group launched the Consortium in June to serve as a resource for the advanced air... Read more →

HT Aero (Huitian), an urban air mobility (UAM) company and an affiliate of XPeng (earlier post), entered into a definitive agreement with a consortium of investors to raise more than US$500 million for its Series A capital funding. The funding round is led by IDG Capital, 5Y Capital and XPeng... Read more →

HT Aero, an urban air mobility (UAM) company in which China-based EV manufacturer XPeng is an investor, unveiled future urban usage scenarios for its fifth-generation flying vehicle XPeng X2, including autonomous flight take-off and landing for specific city scenarios, back-end scheduling, charging and flight control. In its first debut at... Read more →

Vertical Aerospace, a British eVTOL manufacturer, and Marubeni Corporation, a leading Japanese integrated trading and investment business conglomerate have reached an agreement to explore Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) travel solutions focused on the application of Vertical’s flagship electric aircraft, the VA-X4 (earlier post), in the Japanese market. Marubeni has also... Read more →

Airbus announced plans for a new CityAirbus at the company’s first Airbus Summit on “Pioneering Sustainable Aerospace” as the emerging Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market begins to firm up. The fully electric vehicle is equipped with fixed wings, a V-shaped tail, and eight electrically powered propellers as part of its... Read more →

HyPoint, a company developing turbo air-cooled hydrogen-fuel-cell systems for aviation and urban air mobility, entered into a multi-phase collaborative development agreement with Piasecki Aircraft Corporation (PiAC), a pioneer in advanced rotorcraft and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) platforms and technologies, for the development and certification of a hydrogen fuel cell system... Read more →

Thirteen companies and one university have signed agreements with NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) project’s National Campaign to continue work towards integrating air taxis, cargo delivery aircraft and other new air vehicle concepts into the national airspace system. Joby Aviation’s all-electric prototype. The partners will participate in the first full... Read more →

CAE, a global leader in aviation training, and urban air mobility (UAM) company Volocopter signed a strategic partnership, subject to definitive agreement, to develop, certify, and deploy an innovative pilot training program for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) operations. This eVTOL pilot training program will develop the pilot workforce... Read more →

The Urban Air Mobility Division of Hyundai Motor Group is partnering with ANRA Technologies—a leading international provider of end-to-end drone operations and traffic management solutions for unmanned system operators and airspace managers—to begin developing the operating environment for the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry. This is the first in a... Read more →

Rolls-Royce is entering new aviation markets to pioneer sustainable power and as part of that mission will be developing energy storage systems (ESS) that will enable aircraft to undertake zero emissions flights of more than 100 miles on a single charge. Rolls-Royce is planning an £80-million (US$110 million) investment in... Read more →

Vertical Aerospace, developer of the VA-X4 eVTOL aircraft (earlier post), announced investments from American Airlines, Avolon, Honeywell and Rolls-Royce, who have invested in the PIPE and are part of Vertical’s strategic partner ecosystem; Microsoft’s M12, 40 North and Rocket Internet SE have also invested in the business. Commercial partnerships and... Read more →

The unique operating profiles and requirements of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft—also known as flying cars—present formidable challenges to batteries. In a paper in the journal Joule, a team from Penn State University has analyzed the primary performance metrics required for eVTOL batteries compared with electric vehicle (EV)... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), which includes Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation, plans to invest $7.4 billion in the US by 2025 to produce future EVs, enhance production facilities and further its investments in smart mobility solutions. HMG’s investment will enhance overall product competitiveness by prioritizing future mobility technologies, including... Read more →

Rolls-Royce’s technology will power Vertical Aerospace’s flagship Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft. A Rolls-Royce electrical power system will be integrated into the VA-X4 piloted all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, which will carry up to four passengers and the pilot for 120 miles at cruise speeds of more than... Read more →

Rolls-Royce has successfully completed the taxiing of its ‘Spirit of Innovation’ aircraft, the latest milestone on its way to becoming the world’s fastest all-electric plane. (Earlier post.) The plane is part of a Rolls-Royce initiative called ACCEL, short for “Accelerating the Electrification of Flight”. The ACCEL project team includes key... Read more →

The Future Flight Challenge was created to develop aviation infrastructure and systems that enable the next generation of electric and autonomous air vehicles. Air-One is a world-first fully-operational hub for future electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft—such as cargo drones and air taxis—to be launched in Coventry (UK) later... Read more →

Terrafugia, Inc. has achieved a significant milestone by obtaining an FAA Special Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) airworthiness certificate for its Transition roadable aircraft. As a unique integration of a two-seat aircraft and an automobile, the Transition is designed to meet safety standards from both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the... Read more →

Archer, a manufacturer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) have entered into a definitive agreement to enable Archer to benefit from access to FCA’s low-cost supply chain, advanced composite material capabilities, and engineering and design experience. The new partnership will help accelerate Archer’s... Read more →

Israel-based Urban Aeronautics Ltd. reached an agreement to provide four CityHawk VTOL aircraft to Hatzolah Air for emergency medical service (EMS) applications. In addition, Hatzolah Air will become Urban Aeronautics’ official sales representative and distribution channel to other EMS and Rescue organizations worldwide. In August 2020, the two companies signed... Read more →