This video is unable to be played. is set to revolutionize urban air mobility.
The VoloCity aircraft from Volocopter is poised to completely transform urban air mobility.
By the Summer of 2022, the Olympic Games will be taking place in Paris.
The athletes will certainly strive to achieve greatness, yet the same is also true of the aviation start-up, Volocopter.
If everything proceeds as anticipated, VoloCity, a two-seater electric aircraft, will be employed to transport passengers throughout Paris. Furthermore, the service is set to become the first in Europe to make use of an electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) aircraft.
Countless firms across the globe have been creating EVTOL aircraft, suggesting that these craft would be quieter, less costly, and non-polluting, with the ability to make landings deep in the core of cities.
Volocopter anticipates that the European aeronautics regulator, EASA, will grant permission for its own aircraft, the VoloCity to be used to transport passengers within the upcoming few months, thereby making it available in time for the Olympics.
Christian Bauer, the chief financial officer of the German company, states that everything is prepared and will be started by the middle of the coming year.
There will be three pathways joining central Paris with its airports and heliport while Volocopter will be providing scenic tours.
Organising flight paths and vertiports in a metropolitan area like Paris is no small feat, and Volocopter has accomplished a lot given the further difficulty of crafting and achieving certification for a new aircraft in the 12 years since its inception.
Despite the ambitions of Volocopter and its competitors, skeptics consider that the greatest difficulties are yet to come. In the near future, these companies must demonstrate that there is a customer demand for their vehicles.
Batteries remain a major issue, being bulky and pricey, which hinders the range and price benefits of EVTOL aircraft compared to helicopters, trains, and cars.
The VoloCity has a range of only 22 miles, limiting its capacity to short city trips, and falling well short of the range of a helicopter.
Mr Bauer recognizes the difficulty: "The issue we are currently facing is the battery technology, which all our competitors are trying to develop."
He states that as more powerful, cost-effective batteries come about, Volocopter will be able to construct a larger plane offering services at more competitive rates.
We will initially begin at a more premium price point about the same as that of a helicopter. We will then make a significant decrease when we have a four-to-five person model available,” he says.
Lilium, from Germany, has designed an EVTOL that can seat up to six people. Its design is quite aesthetically pleasing.
Rather than employing rotors, as is the case with Volocopter, Lilium has decided to use 30 electric jets that can be collectively tilted in order to change from a vertical lift to forward flight. It is anticipating certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency in 2025.
Lilium believes there is a vast opportunity for the aircraft to provide transportation in crowded cities and places with inadequate rail service.
Lilium chief executive Klaus Roewe states that their services are not necessary where there is good public transportation at an affordable cost, but they are highly valuable where building infrastructure is complex or not even available.
He indicates a transaction proclaimed in June wherein Shenzhen Eastern General Aviation (Heli-Eastern) intends to purchase 100 Lilium aircraft.
Mr Roewe notes that the Greater Bay area can be a "nightmare" to navigate due to its mountains, islands and peninsulas. Nevertheless, Heli-Eastern operates air links in this region, encompassing Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macao.
Similar to Volocopter, Lilium is expecting that advancements in battery technology will provide an edge to its aircraft.
Mr Roewe states that although there is still some "doubt" over the expense of batteries, he trusts that prices will reduce and performance will improve. He supposes that the EVTOL industry can take advantage of the progress made in the creation of batteries for automobiles.
Mr Roewe states that there is no justification for why our batteries should cost more than any car batteries since the fabrication is the same.
Although there is an optimistic outlook, experts are dubious in regards to the predictions of the EVTOL industry with respect to batteries.
Bjorn Fehrm, an aeronautical engineer who piloted combat jets in the Swedish Air Force and currently works for aerospace consultancy Leeham, stated that electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft have an especially unique and costly battery set that will not be produced in large quantities for some time.
Mr Fehrm emphasizes the extreme rate at which EVTOL aircraft draw power from their batteries in order to take off and fly, compared to a car's battery.
Furthermore, Mr. Fehrm points out that, in order to be cost-efficient, the aircraft necessitates a speedy charge time. This rapid charge-discharge cycle puts a strain on the battery, necessitating a separate and more costly system compared to a car battery.
He perceives that there will be an increase in the quality of batteries, but most likely they will only become "approximately" two times better by the end of this decade.
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Mr Fehrm believes that the current amount of battery power available restricts the areas in which EVTOL aircraft can fly. For example, a helicopter would probably have the capability to fly around a storm, yet an EVTOL aircraft, due to its more limited range, would not have the same ability.
In addition to enhancing battery technology, the new EVTOL companies will have to establish factories to manufacture their aircraft in larger quantities.
It appears that Mr Fehrm suggested that the process for EVTOL aircraft is likely to be costly, as the production methods utilized by the aircraft industry do not lend themselves to an affordable, rapid pace of manufacturing.
Darrell Swanson, an aviation consultant specialising in electric aviation, acknowledges that while battery technology deployment is "a difficult process, it is making headway".
He also highlights the need for the new companies to expand significantly: "It is essential for the sector to increase in size in order to avoid the adoption of an approach that is geared only towards company travellers or people who have plenty of money."
In April, Volocopter inaugurated its first assembly line in Bruchsal, not far from Stuttgart in southern Germany, which has the capacity to manufacture 50 aircraft annually. It is envisaged that by the close of the present decade, Volocopter could be producing between 5,000 to 7,000 aircraft every year.
Mr Bauer is aware that a great amount of effort and capital must be put in.
I would declare that we have reached the final stage of the first marathon to certify that vehicle. Subsequently, we will embark on the second marathon, the goal of which is to achieve profitability.
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