EVT Aerotechnics ET3 (concept design)

ET3 (concept design)
EVT Aerotechnics
Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China
www.evt-aerotec.cn

EVT Aeronautics was founded in January 2022 and is based in Nanjing City, Jiangsu, China. The company is in the business of designing and manufacturing passenger and air cargo electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM). The  company's mission is to manufacture exceptionally safe, quiet, comfortable, fast and clean aircraft, while providing affordable low-altitude travel for millions of people.

According to one 2024 article, Nanjing has emerged as a pioneer in China’s low-altitude eVTOL aircraft in 2020 as one of the initial 13 civil uncrewed aerial vehicle test regions nationwide. The Nanjing Industrial Strong City Action Plan (2023–2025) calls for an acceleration in constructing low-altitude Internet of Things and drone bases, establishing a national aerospace electromechanical system model area and continuously expanding the low-altitude (air taxi and air cargo) economy’s scale.

The company's founding team comes from aviation institutes such as COMAC and AVIC, and has rich experience in the research and the development of crewed aircraft. The company's founders and engineering team have already collaborated by designing and developing various sized drones and conventional aircraft models since 2012 (approximately). The conventional aircraft the company's employees have worked on include the Shaanxi Y-8 medium-range transport plane produced by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation, COMAC’s ARJ21 regional jet and the C919 narrow-body airliner.

EVT Aerotechnics has also developed a low-altitude computing model, a 3D simulation platform and a comprehensive low-altitude situation platform. These tools gather meteorological, geographical, historical and environmental data for different applications and airspace classifications. Using this data, the platform can monitor various elements such as three-dimensional environments, alerts, low-altitude aircraft, flight requests and jurisdictional information. It enables online control of the aircraft that typically follow preset routes to avoid air traffic congestion and enhance the efficiency of air travel. Moreover, the platform can intervene during flight operations by rerouting and modifying flight plans if there are obstacles or safety concerns along the air route, preventing potential accidents.

ET3 air cargo and passenger hybrid-electric hydrogen-lithium vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) concept design aircraft
The ET3 is an air cargo and passenger hybrid-electric hydrogen-lithium VTOL concept design aircraft. While the company has not revealed the capacity of the aircraft, most new eVTOL aircraft are scalable. The first iteration of this concept design aircraft once made, might be a technology demonstrator. The company has not released the design of this aircraft as of May 2024.

If the hybrid-electric power source proves successful, then larger aircraft will possibly be designed and manufactured to provide longer range aircraft for use and China and other countries around the world. The company intends for all their aircraft design to have excellent aerodynamic performance verified with wind tunnel and flight tests. They also plan to use 5G communications and artificial intelligence in their aircraft.

The company has revealed the cruise speed of the aircraft is estimated to be very fast with a range of 500 km (310 m). While it is unknown how many propellers will be on the aircraft, it is known that there will be VTOL-only propellers and at least one pusher propeller. The aircraft will be powered by a hybrid-electric power source using hydrogen fuel cells and lithium battery packs. The main wing is approximately 3 m wide (~10 feet). The aircraft will most likely have a modular carbon fiber composite fuselage for a high strength and low weight ratio. If the design is similar to the ET9 concept design aircraft, then the aircraft will most likely have fixed skid landing gear.

eVTOL and hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft have a distinct advantage over conventional aircraft. The weight reduction from having no conventional combustion or turbine engine(s), transmission, gears, linkages, fuel tanks and fuel increases the reliability and safety of the aircraft. In addition, electric motors are more reliable than conventional engines and have a long service life.

This new type of electric aircraft increases safety exponentially, reliability increases, efficiency increases, a higher payload weight per pound of aircraft occurs, can use multiple power sources, increases the service life of the aircraft (overall), reduces manufacturing costs, reduces the manufacturing time, lowers the cost of purchasing the aircraft and reduces maintenance costs. Reducing complexity also reduces weight which then in turn, increases the range of the aircraft. These new aircraft are also easier to install autonomous piloting and are typically scalable.

Future
The ET9 is planned to be used for on-demand air taxi service, emergency rescue and tourist flights. The company anticipates that its first products be available for sale within the next two to three years.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Air cargo and passenger hybrid-electric VTOL concept design aircraft
• Piloting: Unknown
• Cruise speed: Fast
• Range: 500 km (310 m)
• Propellers: Unknown number propellers (however, the aircraft would possible have multiple VTOL-only propellers and at least 1 pusher propeller)
• Electric motors: Unknown number of electric motors
• Power source: Hybrid-electric power source using hydrogen fuel cells and lithium battery packs
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Wing: ~3 m wide (~10 feet)
• Tail: Unknown
• Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear
• Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) means having multiple propellers (or electric ducted fans) and multiple electric motors on an aircraft so if one or more propellers (or electric ducted fans) or some electric motors fail, the other working propellers (or electric ducted fans) and electric motors can safely land the aircraft. DEP provides safety through redundancy for passengers or cargo. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft providing safety through redundancy. Having multiple redundant systems on any aircraft decreases having any single point of failure.

Related Aircraft:

• EVT Aerotechnics ET9 (concept design)
• EVT Aerotechnics ET9 001 (prototype)

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase

Resources:

• EVT Aerotechnics website
• Article: Leading the construction of China's low-altitude economic ecology, EVT Aeronautics, Jan. 5, 2024
• Article: Yivit ET9 prototype completes first protected flight, EVT Aeronautics, Mar. 29, 2024
• Article: Ivitate ET9 prototype successfully made its first flight - a new starting point, a new journey, a new speed, becoming the leader of low-altitude economy, EVT Aeronautics, Mar. 31, 2024
• Article: ET9 eVTOL Prototype’s Maiden Flight Signals Nanjing’s Low-Altitude Progress, Medium, Apr. 27, 2024