The concept of flying cars, jetpacks, and drones is something not much known to the world right now but the near future holds a lot of surprises in this market. The advanced air mobility market is working hard to come up with something jaw-dropping, and brilliant in the world of transportation. So, if you ever fantasize about yourself in a flying electric vehicle then sooner you will be living your dream. The battery-powered aircraft, known as eVTOL, will bring revolution by introducing electrical vertical takeoff and landing vehicles. So, you can imagine being in an electric helicopter landing in congested cities, parking garages, or on the top of buildings.
As fast urbanization has left the cities with a lot of traffic and this congestion is alarming for the world. However, dozens of companies are working to bring something that was considered impossible in previous years.
These electric helicopters would be faster, safer, and eco-friendly while changing our living and working style. It already sounds unbelievable. Doesn’t it?
Important Things About The Electric Helicopter Concept
Let’s have a look at these key points of this electric vehicle operation.
Infrastructure
These vehicles are mainly designed to perform vertical take-off and landing, especially in large congested cities. Such electric helicopters would be picking people from one city point to another. In this way, such vehicles will create a wide connective network among people. According to Airbus researchers, such air mobility offers a cheaper way of transportation than railways, highways, or subway systems. Due to this, this urban air mobility has the potential of being operated as the main mean of future transportation.
Environmental Impact
These electric helicopters are a lot quieter than helicopters making them environmental-friendly and reducing noise pollution. Moreover, such vehicles will also generate fewer or no carbon emissions and polluting gases. Not to mention, these electric helicopters’ cost would be less than the non-autonomous aircraft running on fuel. Due to this reason, the overall operating cost would be less, and accessibility of these eVOLTs would be higher.
No Operating Commands
Considering the autonomous operation, electric helicopters would be operating on fixed routes requiring no commands (even remote) for their operation. Due to this reason, it is expected that these vehicles would revolutionize the transportation world. However, the success of this autonomous operation highly depends on consumer acceptance. Since there might be some consumers who wouldn’t prefer to travel in pilotless aircraft
Regulatory Plan
Considering the specific rules for eVOLTs certification, regulatory reform is required to enable the operation of such vehicles in the market. Moreover, air traffic regulations suggest maintaining high levels of security for low-altitude flights. Additionally, specific guidelines between the partner aircraft include drones, and helicopters since these partners will largely coexist with eVOLTs in urban centers.
Companies Working On Electric Helicopters
Both aerospace companies and startups are working on the innovation of such vehicles. Once integrated, these vehicles will have different applications. Here are some of the many companies working on this.
- Joby Aviation is trading on the NYSE publicly and raised more than $1 billion. It has a partnership with Toyota and actively working on developing an air taxi network to facilitate people in near future. They have many successful test flights and planning to launch air taxis in the US in 2024 before spreading worldwide
- Lilium is another addition to the list of companies devoted to bringing something innovative into the world of transportation. They are planning to launch a 7-seater craft to start in 2024 in Florida before going globally.
- Beta technologies just signed a deal with Uber for a helicopter startup to provide 20 aircraft. This deal also includes selling aircraft to UPS expecting the first units to arrive in 2024 for cargo delivery.
- Airbus, one of the leading European aircraft manufacturers is also working on eVOLTs projects
- Wish Aero and Bell Helicopter are another addition to the companies involved in bringing the revolution of electric vehicles in the near future
- Apart from these other big names including Volocopter, EHang, and Jaunt Air Mobility have started different similar projects
How Far And Fast An Electric Helicopter Can Go?
These electric vehicles will be different depending upon the purpose of their invention. The five-seater craft by Joby Aviation would have a maximum range of 150 miles with 200 miles per hour speed. Talking about its infrastructure, then it has a 38-foot wingspan which is 21 feet long. Moreover, it can operate up to 15000 feet above. It doesn’t produce any significant noise since its motor units produce only 65 dBA of noise while hovering.
Talking about the capacity, its company, Joby Aviation, claims that it can take passengers from the start point of LAX to the endpoint of Newport Beach located in orange county in just 15 minutes while covering 44 miles.
Sooner or later these electric helicopters are going to revolutionize the way we travel and work especially in congested city centers. The future of transportation holds a lot of unbelievable inventions.
