Long awaited, the first electric flying taxis are beginning to leave research centers to arrive on tarmacs, like that of Volocopter, which should officially enter service next year for the Paris Olympics.
Above the runways of Le Bourget airport, in the Paris region, the “Volocity” of the German aircraft manufacturer lands gently, after a fifteen-minute demonstration for the 54th edition of the International Air Show and space. The two-seater aircraft – a pilot and a passenger – powered by electric batteries makes almost no noise, contrasting with the fighter planes that follow one another in the sky. On board, Paul Stone, a 56-year-old Briton, is at the controls: relatively “simple” driving, according to the former Royal Navy, who previously piloted fighter planes and then helicopters.
With this eVTOL (the English acronym for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft), “helicopter pilots are going to have to unlearn sharp skills”, he said. Because in the white plane, reminiscent of a helicopter, “there is an important difference: a digital flight control system”making navigation much easier. “It’s very exciting to test this: it allows you to apply your skills, from existing aircraft, for this new world”emphasizes Paul Stone.
Volocopter is preparing for the Paris Olympic Games, and for this purpose has been testing its machines in the Paris region for more than a year and a half with the airport manager Groupe Aéroports de Paris (ADP), the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens ( RATP) and the Île-de-France region. A result that comes after some 600 million dollars of investment. “It’s not an easy market”, recognizes the commercial and financial director of Volocopter, Christian Bauer, who evokes a high entry ticket while the market does not yet exist. *”It’s a challenge, but we are very close to the commercial phase.” *
On the horizon, the company will sell its devices but also manage journeys, with an application that will make it possible to book online, like for a taxi. It has already received 300 pre-orders from private companies to jointly operate its flying taxis.
Without pilot?
Will we take an eVTOL as easily as a VTC in the future? In any case, the Paris Air Show devotes an entire space to them for the first time, where ultra-design devices are concentrated. Because investments are flowing. According to a recent study by research firm Deloitte, eVTOLs attracted €6 billion in investments globally in 2021, and €2.7 billion in 2022.
“Four years ago, this was still a very exploratory sector. The market has consolidated a little, today we have real prototypes, it is becoming a reality”, analyzes Jean-Louis Rassineux, head of aeronautics and defense for Deloitte. The enthusiasm is there, and the orders follow. The eVTOL Atea from the French start-up Ascendance Flight Technologies announced on Monday 110 new purchasing intentions, or 505 in total. For its part, the American company Archer has already received pre-orders for 100 eVTOL by United Airlines, for more than a billion dollars.
The Midnight, its ultra-design eVTOL, can carry four passengers in addition to its pilot. “We can bring from the airport to the center of the metropolises for a similar cost to that of a VTC, and replace a 90-minute journey by car with a five-minute journey”Archer founder and boss Adam Goldstein told AFP.
Flying electric allows a much lower maintenance cost than with helicopters, he believes, rejecting the idea of planes reserved for the rich, a criticism often addressed to these new generation planes. “You can share the cost over a much wider user base, flying the planes a lot more”he says.
Attracted by this new potential market, established aircraft manufacturers do not want to miss the boat: thus, the American Boeing has invested heavily in the American start-up Wisk Aero, which has developed an unmanned eVTOL, presented at Le Bourget. “We don’t have a plan B to have an optional pilot. We are absolutely committed to getting the first autonomous aircraft certified.”, insists Brian Yutko, the leader of Wisk, who does not give a precise timetable. But keep in mind the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.