Zhejiang University Extended Range eVTOL (prototype)

(Photo credit: Zhejiang University City College)

Extended Range eVTOL (prototype)
Zhejiang University City College
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
www.isct.zucc.edu.cn

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.

Founded in 1897, Zhejiang University is located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. The university has a wide variety of schools and departments from arts to engineering. The university in collaboration with Beijing Bolken Energy Conservation Technology Company has developed a passenger hydrogen-powered electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) multicopter prototype aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM).

Extended Range passenger hydrogen fuel cell eVTOL multicopter prototype aircraft
The Extended Range eVTOL is a one passenger hydrogen fuel cell multicopter prototype aircraft. The aircraft has enough room for the passenger's luggage. It is unknown if the university is planning to make the multicopter into a production aircraft or not. If the university won't make the multicopter into a production model, the university could offer the passenger multicopter technology as open source material to any start-up passenger eVTOL company.

The university has released few specifications about the one passenger multicopter aircraft. We know the range of the aircraft is expected to be 60 km (37 miles); however, the planned speed of the aircraft is unknown. The aircraft has eight stacked propellers, has eight electric motors and uses hydrogen fuel cells and batteries for its power source. There is a roof over the cockpit with open sides and possibly a windscreen in the front of the cockpit.

The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite to give the aircraft a high strength to low weight ratio. The landing gear has fixed quadricycle wheeled landing gear on the prototype. The landing gear for the final design of the aircraft might be designed for fixed skid landing gear. The university has reported that many of the components for the prototype have come from lightweight automotive technology.

It is important to remember that all concept design and prototype aircraft specifications are estimated and can or will change as prototypes and production models are made, tested and flown with real world avionics, components and payloads.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: Passenger eVTOL multicopter prototype aircraft
• Piloting: 1 pilot and luggage
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Range: 60 km (37 miles)
• Propellers: 8 stacked propellers
• Electric motors: 8 electric motors
• Power source: Hydrogen fuel cells and batteries
• Fuselage: Carbon fiber composite
• Window: Roof over the cockpit with open sides and possibly a windscreen in the front
• Landing gear: The landing gear has fixed quadricycle wheeled landing gear on the prototype. The landing gear might be designed for fixed skid landing gear.
• Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) uses multiple propellers or electric ducted fans, each powered by electric motors, to increase safety through redundancy. If one or more components fail, the remaining ones can still ensure a safe landing. 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. The aircraft has no moving surfaces or tilting parts when transitioning from vertical to forward flight and the reverse which increases safety by reducing complexity.

Company Insights:

• Crunchbase
• Tracxn

Resources:

• Zhejiang University City College website
• Article: Chinese eVTOL Aircraft Directory, Part 2, Vertiflite, July/August 2025