EHang VT-30 (prototype)
(Photo credit: EHang)
VT-30 (prototype)
EHang
Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China
www.ehang.com
The information provided here is as accurate as possible; however, eVTOL information from China is sometimes sparse, incomplete or conflicting. China is promoting what they call the "low-altitude economy" — a new push for general aviation — which includes both crewed and uncrewed passenger and air cargo eVTOL aircraft.
EHang was founded in December 2014 by Huazhi Hu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Derrick Yifang Xiong, Director and Chief Marketing Officer. EHang is an autonomous aerial vehicle technology platform company based in China and is pioneering the future of all-electric aerial transportation through multiple proprietary products and services. The company designs and manufactures electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) passenger and cargo aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM). The mission of EHang is to provide safe, autonomous and eco-friendly air mobility for everyone.
Selected EHang achievements
- December 2014: Company founded in China
- July 2018: EH216-S eVTOL aircraft (the current production model) had made over 1,000 manned flights
- October 2023: Type Certificate (CAAC)
- April 2024: Production Certificate
- March 2025: Air Operator Certificates
- March 2025: Commercial flights begin
EHang's primary products and services
- eVTOL passenger transportation, logistics and urban high-rise firefighting
- Smart city management
- New-generation infrastructure for advanced air mobility (AAM)
- Command and Control Center (For passenger, cargo and drone services.)
- Multiple commercial eVTOL drone services (Such as aerial mapping; forest fire surveillance, inspection and reporting; public safety surveillance; traffic management; 3 dimension modeling; news reporting and more.)
- eVTOL Aerial Media (Nighttime light shows in the sky created by using thousands of drones)
EHang first unveiled its initial design, the single-seat model 184, at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. EHang had delivered more than 130 units of its two-seat model 216 by the end of 2020.
After many months of rumors and speculation, Guangzhou, China-based EHang acknowledged in a tweet on March 9, 2021, “EHang has been developing long-range electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle (called the VT30) for years. We are about to run the test flight of this new product in months, which will have many new breakthrough features. We will release more information in time.”
On May 4, 2021, EHang tweeted, "We are pleased to announce that EHang's long range AAV (Autonomous Aerial Vehicle) VT-30 has successfully completed the first phase of vertical take-off and landing trial flight. We'll carry out the second phase of endurance flight test as planned." At the time of the Twitter post, no official photograph of the aircraft was posted. The VT-30 will be a lift+cruise aircraft, taking off vertically and then transitioning to forward flight using a pusher propeller and its wings.
EHang has also stated they are making several variations of their VT lift+cruise eVTOL aircraft. The small VT-20 is said to be in production, has a speed range of 30-120 km/h (18-75 mph) and a flight time of over three hours. The VT-20 is planned to be used to survey flight routes for VT-30 flights, ultimately making it a critical component for the future of EHang's UAM infrastructure planning process.
The other EHang eVTOL lift+cruise model is the VT-25 with a range of 400 km (250 m), with eight VTOL propellers, one rear pusher propeller, a low main wing with winglets, a twin tail boom and possibly has tricycle fixed strut-type landing gear.
On May 25, 2021, EHang revealed pictures and more details of its VT-30 long-range flagship eco-friendly all-electric zero-emissions and low noise aircraft.
The EHang VT-30 two passenger eVTOL aircraft (prototype)
The EHang VT-30 an autonomous two passenger eVTOL aircraft and has large windows for forward, left, right and top views. While the cruise speed is unknown, the aircraft has a range of 300 km (186 m) and a flight time of 100 minutes. The aircraft's empty weight is 700 kg (1,543 lb). The aircraft is powered by batteries.
The aircraft has eight dedicated propellers for VTOL flight and has one pusher propeller for forward flight. The superstructure of the aircraft is made of carbon fiber composite for high strength to low weight ratio. The eVTOL aircraft has on one main low wing with winglets. In the rear of the aircraft is an inverted V tail boom. There are two parallel booms to the fuselage attached to the bottom of the wing where all the VTOL propellers are located. In the rear of these two booms is where the inverted V tail boom is attached to the aircraft. For takeoff and landing, the aircraft has fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear.
The aircraft has a triple-redundancy fly-by-wire control system which can be flexibly altered into multiple modes, providing a much higher safety level for the aircraft. The aircraft has been designed with inter-city travel in mind, that is, to fly people between two cities. However, the aircraft could easily be used to fly advanced air mobility missions within the same city, rural or remote areas of the world.
In late December 2021, EHang received its first order for VT-30 eVTOL aircraft with Japan’s Okayama Kurashiki Mizushima Aero & Space Industry Cluster Study Group, to study the aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM). EHang did not say how many aircraft were ordered.
On Mar. 11, 2022, eVTOL Magazine reported that Aerotree (Philippines) purchased 50 EHang 216 eVTOL models and 10 VT-30 eVTOL models, for a grand total of 60 eVTOL aircraft.
Specifications:
- Aircraft type: Passenger eVTOL aircraft (prototype)
- Piloting: Autonomous
- Capacity: 2 people
- Cruise speed: Unknown
- Range: 300 km (186 m)
- Flight Time: 100 minutes
- Empty weight: 700 kg (1,543 lb)
- Propellers: 8 VTOL propellers, 1 pusher propeller
- Electric Motors: 9 electric motors for the propellers
- Power source: Batteries
- Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
- Windows: Has large windows for forward, left and right and top views
- Wings: One low main wing with winglets
- Tail: Inverted V tail boom
- Landing gear: Fixed tricycle wheeled type landing gear
- Safety Features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers and motors on the aircraft so if one or more motors or propellers fail, the other working motors and propellers can safely land the aircraft. The aircraft has a triple-redundancy fly-by-wire control system which can be flexibly altered into multiple modes, providing a much higher safety level for the aircraft. The aircraft can land like a plane because it has wheeled landing gear.
Related Aircraft:
- EHang 116 (prototype)
- EHang 184 (defunct)
- EHang EH216-F (production model)
- EHang EH216-L (production model)
- EHang EH216-S (production model)
- EHang VT-25 (concept design)
- EHang VT-35 (production model)
Company Insights:
Resources:
- EHang website
- EHang Urban Air Mobility Information
- EHang Facebook
- EHang Twitter
- EHang Instagram
- EHang YouTube
- Article: EHang confirms plans for winged eVTOL and piloted version of EH216, Vertical Magazine, Apr. 16, 2021
- Article: EHang provides first look at VT-30 passenger aircraft, Vertical Magazine, May 25, 2021
- Article: EHang Reveals Long-Range VT-30 AAV to Expand Regional Air Mobility Coverage, EHang, May 26, 2021
- Article: Episode 1: EHang latest updates, rumours and general chit-chat, Urban Air Mobility News, June 4, 2021
- Video: EHang VT-30: Long-Range Passenger-grade Autonomous Aerial Vehicle, EHang, Sept. 27, 2021
- Article: Global EHang long-range VT-30 AAV debut before Zhuhai Airshow, Fifty Sky Shades, Sept. 27, 2021
- Article: Manned Autopilot Debuts in Zhuhai, Xinhua News Agency, Sept. 27, 2021
- Article: China's Rising eVTOL Industry, Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2021
- Article: EHang announces launch order for longer-range VT-30 eVTOL aircraft, FutureFlight, Dec. 23, 2021
- Article: EHang forges new partnership with Aerotree, deal includes pre-order for 60 eVTOL, Vertical Magazine, March 11, 2022
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