In recent years, with the rise of the urban air mobility (UAM) concept, the modern flying car concept has expanded from the traditional concept of land-air amphibious vehicles to electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL). As a new type of transportation for urban air traffic and future travel, eVTOL aircraft is increasingly valued by the aviation and automotive industries, and has become a hot spot in the capital market.
Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Vehicle (eVTOL)
According to a study published in November 2018 by Roland Berger, germany, "Urban Air Mobility – The Rise of a New Mode of Transport," 3,000 flying cars will be put into service by 2025, followed by an exponential increase in numbers, and nearly 100,000 flying cars worldwide will be used as air taxis, airport shuttles and intercity flights by 2050. Morgan Stanley also released a Blue Book saying that the global urban air traffic industry will reach $1.5 trillion in 2040!
What does an eVTOL aircraft look like?
Not long ago, a British startup Bellwether Industries announced their latest research and development results in the media, the company said that it has successfully completed the first cordless test flight of the eVolar aircraft codenamed "Bellwether" in Dubai, and will continue to share the test flight footage with the outside world in the coming weeks.
You can see the company's ambitions from the code name, bellwether's goal is to bring the "bellwether" to market by 2028. To date, Bellwether has helped the company raise $1 million from angel investors, and its prototype was first shown to the public at the Dubai Airshow last November.
For now, the company is looking outward for more investment to help it build a full-scale prototype. In addition, due to financial problems, the prototype of the company's recent test flight is only about half the size of the original plan, reaching an altitude of only 3.9 meters and a top speed of 40 km / h.
The "bellwether" who completed the test flight in Dubai
The final version, which is about 3.2 m (10.5 ft) wide, can accommodate four to five seats, and can cruise at an altitude of about 3,000 feet (914 m), with a top speed of 217 km/h and a battery life of about 90 minutes.
Three major challenges for eVTOL aircraft
Although with the gradual maturity of batteries, motors and other technologies, eVTOL aircraft has also moved from science fiction to reality, Boeing, Airbus, Bell, Embraer, AVIC and other traditional aviation giants have laid out the research and development of electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL).
Even more, they have been put on the market, such as the Dutch PAL-V company's two-person flying car code-named "PAL-V Liberty". However, the current development of flying cars is still in the early stages of moving from research and exploration to commercial application, because there are still many bottlenecks and obstacles in this "air traffic" way.
eVTOL aircraft
The first is the market problem. For example, the electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL) developed by various companies is an electrified distributed propulsion that eliminates the traditional high-power engine to achieve less noise than the helicopter.
But "air traffic travel" is different from existing ground transportation, although designed to minimize the operation noise, but how much impact it will have on the current urban human life, and whether the public can accept it is not yet known. In addition, the operating model of "air transportation" travel and the economic cost have not yet taken shape.
The second is the issue of regulation. "Air traffic" involves urban airspace management, in which the formulation of "routes", air law enforcement systems, the division of accident responsibilities and driving rules need to be reformulated according to the situation.
So far, no country in the world has developed clear and uniform standards and regulations for electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL). This is also the reason why the two-person flying car, code-named "PAL-V Liberty" in the Netherlands, cannot take off and can only drive on the ground.
The third is the technical problem. In order to minimize the noise of eVTOL aircraft, manufacturers have adopted electrified distributed propulsion, which involves three major technical areas: power propulsion, flight piloting and body structure.
The research and development of eVTOL aircraft enterprises are concentrated in the two major technical fields of vehicle body structure and flight piloting, for the most important power propulsion of the three major technologies, the traditional aviation giants did not carry out corresponding power propulsion research for eVTOL aircraft, but system integration, selection and application of existing products and technologies. This has led to a bottleneck, that is, the short range and low payload of eVTOL aircraft are the most important problems and challenges facing the development of eVTOL aircraft.
You catch up with me, and the eVTOL competition is getting fiercer
Despite the multiple challenges posed by the current eVTOL aircraft, urban air traffic (UAM) is the best way to solve ground traffic congestion and carbon dioxide emissions, which is why countries have successively laid out the UAM industry and even raised it to the level of national strategy! For example, in the United States, driven by the dual needs of technological development and military missions, the US military launched the "Agile First" project to support private enterprises to use government resources to develop eVTOL aircraft, efficiently integrate government resources with commercial capital and technology, and accelerate the research and development of eVTOL aircraft.
South Korea has also introduced a "K-UAM" air traffic planning plan for the control of eVTOL aircraft, and plans to take the lead in commercial mode operation in Seoul in 2025. France also launched an "electric flying taxi" test at Pontoise Airport last September. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has also developed a set of planning schemes for eVTOL aircraft, which are designed to solve various problems caused by eVTOL aircraft, as well as detailed airworthiness standards such as emergency exits, lightning protection, landing gear systems and pressurized cabins...
The mainland is also actively laying out the UAM industry. Approve the three provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui as pilot provinces for global low-altitude flight, set up unmanned civil aviation test bases, incorporate the Interim Regulations on the Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flights into the legislative plan for two consecutive years, and introduce a series of policy measures involving the airworthiness approval procedures and industry standards of unmanned aerial vehicles, etc., which have accelerated the development of eVTOL aircraft on the mainland.
In October last year, Shanghai Fengfei Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of a $100 million Series A financing, which is the largest single financing obtained by domestic companies developing eVTOL aircraft so far! The V400 "Albatross" independently developed by Fengfei Aviation has also become the first pure electric vertical take-off and landing fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle officially accepted the airworthiness approval application of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. And in August last year, we successfully completed the round trip from Shanghai to Zhoushan, with a total of more than 200 kilometers of flight miles! This is the ice-breaking journey of the continental eVTOL unmanned aerial vehicle for ultra-long flight!
In addition to Fengfei Aviation, another private enterprise from Wenzhou, Dover Aviation Industry Group, which is committed to developing the general aviation economy, is developing and building a "comprehensive industrial base integrating general aviation research and development, production and sales"! The "Dover Flying Car" developed for many years was unveiled for the first time at the 12th China Airshow.
"Dover Flying Car" debuted at the air show
According to reports, due to the vertical take-off and landing design, the "Dover Flying Car" can take off without a runway, the air flight speed can reach up to 160 km / h, and the conversion of air power and ground power only takes 3 seconds! Can be parked in any parking space and private garage!
Unlock the future of urban air traffic!
One might ask, what is the reason for the sudden surge in the number of VTOL developers? The answer is simple, in order to better adapt to the development of the city. According to a 2018 United Nations report, by 2050, 68% of the world's population will live in urban areas.
As cities such as Beijing, Hong Kong, and New York reach their limits, urban life becomes increasingly unsustainable, but the "economy" that is closely linked to us requires constant mobility between cities. At a macro level, high-growth cities create a growing demand for mobility for residents.
But at the same time, a series of crises brought about by vehicle emissions, melting Arctic glaciers, and global warming threaten the earth's fragile ecosystems. Therefore, changing ground traffic through electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL) and "building roads" in the air can not only free up a large amount of ground space, but also reduce the exhaust emissions of cars and dependence on diesel fuel.
In the long run (2045 and beyond), commerce and green space will be more encrypted and inseparable. While we may never be able to eliminate subways and roads, we may be able to use these flying machines to reduce the carbon footprint of subways and roads. Flying cars will have a huge impact on the future of transportation, work life, consumption, urban design, and even healthcare and ecology.
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