This year’s Farnborough International air show could be the last major European summer show that does not feature flying demonstrations of all-electric air taxis.
Though much remains up in the air for the nascent sector, several companies appear poised to launch new electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft within the next few years, barring certification delays or financial collapses. Coming-out parties could be imminent.
Germany’s Volocopter, a global leader in the race to certificate a new class of aircraft, will unveil its technology to the world this month with flights at the Paris Summer Olympics. But there are no similar eVTOL displays planned for Farnborough. That is despite the presence of such leading start-ups as Eve Air Mobility, Joby Aviation, Lilium Air Mobility, Supernal, Vertical Aerospace and Wisk Aero, all of which will provide updates on progress toward certification and commercialisation during the show.
Volocopter is absent from the roster of exhibiting eVTOL companies, as is California’s Archer Aviation, which displayed a full-sized mock-up of its Midnight aircraft at the most recent Dubai and Paris air shows but is sitting out of Farnborough. Likewise, Vermont-based Beta Technologies will not have a significant presence this year.
UK-based Vertical had planned an air taxi flying display for Farnborough. But the company recently scrapped plans to fly its second VX4 prototype during the show, choosing to focus on advancing its flight-test programme.
There will still be a strong contingent of eVTOL start-ups showing off their technology. JoeBen Bevirt, founder and chief executive of Joby, told reporters during a pre-show briefing on 17 July that this is “one of the most exciting times in aviation history – a time of convergence of many really transformational technologies”.
“I believe that this convergence is going to herald a time where aviation becomes dramatically more relevant to our daily lives and also more important and impactful for the productivity of people around the world,” he says.
Bevirt says Joby is “right on the cusp of launching service with our air taxi”. If his ambition becomes reality, this could be a relatively quiet period before air taxis take off. Joby and Archer are planning to launch passenger services with their respective eVTOLs as soon as next year – and several companies are on their heels.
RISING TO OCCASION
Supernal’s full-scale concept aircraft, known as the S-A2, will feature prominently as part of Farnborough air show’s static display. Unveiled in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the full-sized eVTOL’s presence signals that Hyundai-backed Supernal is entering the “execution phase”, chief technology officer David McBride told FlightGlobal on 11 July.
“We felt the world needs to see we are making progress,” he says. “We want to show we have the credibility to deliver.”
Supernal’s team intends to hit the ground running as it pushes to identify three-quarters of its suppliers by the end of September – and 100% of its suppliers by year’s end.
“We will be very much talking to potential suppliers during the show,” McBride says.
Whereas many of its competitors are public companies depending partly on investors to raise enough cash to clear certification, Washington, DC-based Supernal is backed by South Korea’s Hyundai – and may have a clearer path to large-scale manufacturing as a result.
“We won’t be the first to flight, but we will be the first to scale,” McBride says.
“We have the global backing of one of the world’s biggest industrial companies, and benefit from the depth of their manufacturing base and supply chain,” he adds. ”What Hyundai brings us is scale. They make around 800,000 cars a year, so they have the manufacturing capability.”
Asserting that Supernal’s assembly operation “will not be the typical rotorcraft manufacturer building a couple hundred units a year”, McBride suggests that the company could eventually achieve a production rate on par with the automotive industry.
Assembly operations will likely occur in a series of “micro-factories” closer to markets in Asia, Europe and North America, rather than at a single mega-factory. McBride says Supernal has narrowed its list to five potential locations.
The firm hopes to get its technology demonstrator airborne by the year’s end, and to complete its production prototype sometime in 2026.
BIG-TIME BACKING
Another air taxi company with deep-pocketed support is Eve Air Mobility, a subsidiary of Embraer. With its first pre-production prototype under assembly in Brazil, the air taxi start-up is finalising its list of suppliers and seeking to convert some of its industry-leading 2,900 tentative orders into firm deals.
”A big challenge is to convert,” CEO Johann Bordais told reporters in Sao Paulo last month. ”What I’m really proud of is… our customers and the diversity we’re talking about here. It’s worldwide, it’s helicopter companies, it’s shuttle [services], it’s the first mile and last mile, it’s a leasing company – you name it.
“The message they’re sending us is that it’s more than the vehicle, it’s the support,” he continued. ”’You certify this vehicle, deliver it to us and support it, I’ll buy it’ – that’s what they’ve been telling us.”
A one-third scale model of Eve’s aircraft recently underwent wind-tunnel and acoustics testing, Bordais said. And the company hinted at a major update regarding its full-size pre-production prototype on the first day of Farnborough.
Eve is aiming to launch a flight-test campaign this year, with plans to certificate its aircraft with Brazilian aviation authorities in 2026.
By virtue of building an autonomous and uncrewed eVTOL, California-based Wisk is generally seen as having longer-term ambitions. But it has also logged thousands of flight hours with several different generations of prototypes and is testing relatively mature technologies. Critically, it has backing from Boeing.
Wisk has thus far in 2024 completed assembly of an “iron bird” test rig and a series of wind-tunnel tests that have informed the prototype of its sixth-generation eVTOL. It also struck deals with the city of Sugar Land, Texas and Houston International airport to support future autonomous air taxi operations in the greater Houston area.
The company is poised to identify further geographic areas it believes are ripe for developing autonomous air taxi operations, and plans to make an announcement during the show.
Chief executive Brian Yutko recently shared an image on social media of engineers handling the Gen 6 prototype’s wing – delivered by Belgian aerostructure developer Sonaca Group – and added that the aircraft has entered the “final assembly” stage.
Now under the guidance of new CEO Stuart Simpson, Vertical recently unveiled its latest VX4 prototype, signalling the resumption of flight testing following the August 2023 crash of its first prototype due to a propeller blade failure.
The firm says its new aircraft – G-EVTA – features batteries, a powertrain and new propellers developed in-house, plus an increased proportion of components sourced from its core supply chain.
Vertical’s latest prototype is not production-conforming but gets the company closer to the aircraft that it will use for certification flying. It is working on getting a permit from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to start flying G-EVTA.
PUSHING BOUNDARIES
Joby’s full-scale aircraft will be on display at Farnborough, marking the aircraft’s first appearance in the UK.
After years of developing its piloted, four-passenger air taxi, Joby Aviation has recently shown interest in using its eVTOL as a platform for other emerging aviation technologies, first by acquiring autonomous flight developer Xwing.
”We’ve been working on autonomy for many years,” Bevirt says. ”We’ve also been in conversation with the team at Xwing for the last seven or eight years, and I’ve been incredibly impressed with the work that entire team has done.”
Integrating’s Xwing’s employees, patents and technologies into Joby’s operations is going smoothly, he says. “The impact that I believe autonomy will have across many different dimensions of aviation is really, really profound.”
Earlier this month, Joby conducted a 454nm (841km) flight by powering its aircraft with liquid hydrogen, a first-of-its kind demonstration.
With the additional range provided by hydrogen fuel cells, Bevirt envisions Joby’s eVTOL connecting not just city centres to airports and outlying urban areas, but also operating passenger services on longer-distance routes between major metros.
One such region is the UK, which represents a “remarkable opportunity for electric aerial ride-sharing” with a large percentage of the population living in or near cities, Joby tells FlightGlobal.
”As well as connecting routes in major high-traffic regions, like London and its suburbs, we think there’s really great opportunities to connect towns and cities where there has been underinvestment in transport connections, particularly across the north of England,” the firm says.
Bevirt believes Joby’s strategy of incorporating autonomous flight and hydrogen propulsion technologies onto Joby’s relatively mature eVTOL platform will have a multiplying effect for its business.
“You take autonomy, you take hydrogen-electric, and you combine that with the vertical integration that we’re building,” he says. ”We design, build, test and certify more than 90% of the components on the aircraft.”
Joby has rolled two aircraft off its pilot-production line in Marina, California and has ”multiple more” in final assembly, according to Eric Allison, Joby’s head of product. The company is on pace to make 12 eVTOLs this year, and is working to expand the line – potentially allowing it to produce an additional 25 aircraft annually.
In a sign that eVTOL start-ups are being taken seriously, Germany’s Lilium made a big splash before the show by revealing on 18 July that it has secured a “binding sales agreement” for 50 Lilium Jets from Saudia Group, firming a 2022 memorandum of understanding between the two companies.
Bavaria-based Lilium says the deal – which includes options for a further 50 of the electric aircraft – “represents the largest commitment in the eVTOL sector by airline operator”. Saudia Group has agreed to a schedule of deposit and pre-delivery payments.
”We are thrilled to be pioneering progress in the eVTOL industry,” says CEO Klaus Roewe, who says Lilium is now the air taxi “manufacturer with the largest reported firm purchase order from an international airline that plans to operate the aircraft”. Deliveries are set to begin in 2026.
