The Electric VTOL News™ eNewsletter started in 2016 as a means to inform the attendees of the VFS Transformative Vertical Flight Workshops and interested parties of news in the eVTOL world. Since then, it has grown to be a regular report on eVTOL aircraft, progress and developments. Since April 2017, it has also highlighted new aircraft in the World eVTOL Aircraft Directory and other resources on the eVTOL.news website. Check out...
On Jan. 13, 2020, the Transportation Research Board hosted a panel discussion, "Automation Technology and Transportation," with senior transportation officials to talk about automation technology in the transportation space. Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) joined two deputy assistant Transportation secretaries to talk about various new technologies and the...
Toyota Press Release:
Toyota and Joby Aviation are Flying to New Heights Together
Toyota to share expertise in manufacturing, quality and cost controls for the development and production of Joby Aviation’s breakthrough eVTOL aircraft
Toyota has invested $394M as lead investor in Joby’s Series C financing
SANTA CRUZ, CA (January 15, 2020)...
Joby Press Release:
Joby Aviation Raises $590 Million in Series C Financing to Launch Air Taxi Service
Toyota Motor Corporation Leads the Investment Round with $394 Million Investment
Santa Cruz, CA, January 15, 2020 – Joby Aviation, a pioneer in the development of an electric air taxi, has raised $590 million in Series C funding led by Toyota...
OPENER Press Release:
OPENER Names Ben Diachun as Chief Executive Officer
Expanding Operations, Bringing BlackFly to Market
Palo Alto, CA, Jan. 14, 2020 -- OPENER, a pioneer of aerial vehicles for consumer travel, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ben Diachun as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). OPENER is producing...
Geely Terrafugia TF-2A
Subscale Demonstrator Aircraft
Makes Its First Flight
{unofficial translation from Geely's Chinese original news release}
Geely's “integrated world” three-dimensional smart travel ecology is flourishing steadily in 2019. After the wholly-owned acquisition of Terrafugia in 2017, Geely quickly established the Terrafugia...
Terrafugia co-founder and president Dr. Carl Dietrich has announced a new urban air mobility (UAM) venture, Jump Aero.
With the tagline, "We will empower our heroes to become superheroes," the company aims to "enable first responders to fly to the scene of an emergency as fast as possible. We will cut emergency response time in half – helping save thousands of lives each year."
Founded by three experienced aviation entrepreneurs, Jump...
On Dec. 10, Harbour Air, North America’s largest seaplane airline conducted a successful flight of what is claimed was “the world’s first all-electric commercial aircraft.” The flight was made in a six passenger de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver powered by a 750-hp (560-kW) magni500 propulsion system from Seattle-based magniX. The flight took place on the Fraser River at Harbour Air Seaplanes terminal in Richmond,...
Jaunt Air Mobility has selected additional partners for its Reduced Rotor Operating Speed Aircraft (ROSA™) electric rotorcraft. BAE Systems is collaborating with the company to explore the development of electric energy management systems for UAM vehicles through a memorandum of understanding (MOU). According to the joint press release on Dec. 5, “BAE Systems has 20-plus years of experience developing and integrating...
On Dec. 11, LIFT Aircraft provided a status update of their Hexa multicopter. The company has now built and tested three working prototypes to inform key design improvements for production. These include a stronger and lighter airframe; more reliable, efficient and quiet field-oriented control (FOC) motor controllers; a redesigned landing gear (from quad to hex) for greater balance and stability; and the addition of a fourth...
On Dec. 4, Disney unveiled its new “Rise of the Resistance” ride at the grand opening of its new “Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge” theme park in Orlando, Florida. Video of the nighttime event shows the two T-70 X-Wing fighters take off vertically, rotate and then translate forward away from the huge crowd. TheDrive.com website reported that the interceptors used the unmanned Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle (CAV) eVTOL aircraft as the...
