China may become the first country with drone and air taxi technology after a successful test flight last month at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
In a world of unmanned drones and AI-driven package delivery services, airborne private vehicles have still been regulated to the realm of science fiction – until now.
Shanghai-based aviation technology firm Autoflight completed the first successful test flight of a two-tonne electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft recently and has now gained approval for an airworthiness application from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
World’s first two-tonne flying EV
Autoflight will now work toward an airworthiness certification for its Prosperity model of electric flying vehicles – a 2,200-kilogram, 5-seater eVTOL aircraft capable of vertical take-off with a configuration that allows for fixed-wing horizontal cruising at altitude.
“The eVTOL aircraft will be utilised for point-to-point air travel within cities and intercity areas, with the objective being to ultimately offer pricing similar to ground-based car services,” the company’s release read.
In February, Autoflight successfully completed the world’s first inter-city electric air taxi demonstration flight between the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai, covering 50 kilometres and turning what is usually a 3-hour car ride into a 20-minute jaunt over the Pearl River Delta.
Autoflight says this test route is part of the future air traffic scenario planned by the regional government as it develops its ‘low-altitude economy’ strategy.
The company foresees the opening of thousands of vertiports and hundreds of eVTOL air routes across the Greater Bay Area in southern China.
RMIT University’s advanced air mobility researcher, Dr Abdulghani Mohamed, said the ‘low altitude economy’ or Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry is gaining considerable attention, with China being just one country among many focused on developing the technology.
“This emerging sector offers the potential to revolutionise transportation by using fully electric aircraft to move people and parcels autonomously – thereby reducing road traffic,” Dr Mohamed said.
“Air vehicle manufacturers promise lower operating costs and enhanced accessibility, presenting significant benefits such as rapid cargo and medical transportation.”
Several challenges to be solved
Dr Abdulghani Mohamed works across aerospace engineering, robotics, aerodynamics, turbulence modelling, biomimetics and sensors.
He co-leads the RMIT Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Research Team, which undertakes autonomous aerial vehicle research.
“There are several challenges which both industry and academics worldwide are working on solving, particularly focused on safe and sustainable operation of this new mode of transport,” Dr Mohamed explained.
“This includes safe flight routes, avoiding wildlife, noise reduction and operation in windy and turbulent conditions.
“The latter is particularly important for site selection of a vertiport, which is essential to China — and the rest of the world — setting up its low-altitude economy.
“The routine transportation of people in autonomous airborne vehicles is expected to take several more years to become commonplace.
“Nonetheless, the progress being made in AAM signals a transformative shift in how we think about and approach transportation, promising a future where air travel is more accessible, efficient and environmentally friendly.”