![Airbus CityAirbus](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/01_uam_airbus.jpg?itok=yCZWMMvt)
Airbus CityAirbus
Airbus’ multicopter demonstrator made its first flight in May 2019 at Donauworth, Germany. The 4,850-lb. unmanned aircraft has eight fixed-pitch propellers in four ducts, driven by eight 100-kW electric motors powered by a 110 kWh battery. CityAirbus is designed to fly for 15 min. at speeds up to 75 mph.
![Beta Alia-250](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/02_uam_beta-technologies.jpg?itok=jOIwB271)
Beta Alia-250
Beta Technologies is flight-testing the lift-plus-cruise Alia-250, initially for the organ transport mission with funding from United Therapeutics. Designed to carry six passengers or 200 ft.³ of cargo, the 6,000-lb. eVTOL aircraft has four lift rotors, a 50-ft.-span wing and a pusher propeller.
![EHang 216](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/03_uam_ehang.jpg?itok=XTokeIFB)
EHang 216
China’s EHang is the first eVTOL aircraft manufacturer to begin trial commercial operations, using its multicopter 216. The 1,320-lb. autonomous air taxi has 16 rotors on eight arms and is designed to carry two passengers 22 mi. at 80 mph. Ehang has unveiled an unmanned logistics version, the 216L.
![Joby Gen 2](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/04_uam_joby-aviation.jpg?itok=MEqFIUhc)
Joby Aviation ‘S4 2.0’
Joby Aviation is aiming for FAA Part 23 certification of its 200-mph, 150-mi.-range tiltprop S4 by the end of 2023. The 4,800-lb., five-seat aircraft has six tilting propellers, four on the 38-ft.-span wing and two on the V-tail, powered by batteries in the wing and nacelles. Aviation Week had the opportunity to sample the flight characteristics of the Joby air taxi in a company demonstration simulator.
![Kitty Hawk Heaviside](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/05_uam_kitty-hawk.jpg?itok=OK-GCwm2)
Kitty Hawk Heaviside
Kitty Hawk is flight-testing the Heaviside high-performance single-seat personal eVTOL aircraft. With six tilting propellers on the forward-swept wing and two on the canard foreplane, the aircraft has flown 100 mi. on a single charge and demonstrated a speed of 180 mph in tests.
![Lilium Jet Flying](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/06_uam_lilium.jpg?itok=cjYkGkKx)
Lilium Jet
Germany’s Lilium is aiming to begin regional air mobility services in 2025 with the five-seat Lilium Jet. With 36 tilting ducted fans on the wing and foreplane, the piloted eVTOL aircraft is being designed to fly for up to 1 hr. at speeds up to 185 mph. A full-scale demonstrator flew in May 2019.
![SD-03 Flight 2](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/07_uam_skydrive.jpg?itok=5OJpGGKv)
SkyDrive SD-03
A Japanese startup plans to begin commercial services with a two-seat eVTOL aircraft in 2023. SkyDrive flew a single-seat multicopter prototype, the SD-03, in August, having conducted manned flight tests of a demonstrator, the SD-02, beginning in December 2019.
![Vertical Aerospace VA-1X](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/08_uam_vertical-aerospace.jpg?itok=uX3RpACI)
Vertical Aerospace VA-1X
After flying two unmanned demonstrators, the ducted-rotor proof of concept in 2018 and multicopter Seraph in 2019, UK startup Vertical Aerospace has revealed plans to bring the five-seat VA-1X to market by 2024. The 150-mph, 100-mi.-range eVTOL aircraft as four tilting propellers and four stop/stow lift rotors.
![Volocopter VoloCity](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/09_uam_volocopter.jpg?itok=n3JqHycb)
Volocopter VoloCity
German startup Volocopter plans to certify the VoloCity, a two-seat multicopter eVTOL aircraft with 18 propellers, by the end of 2022. The 1,980-lb. aircraft is designed to fly 22-mi. at up to 68 mph, piloted initially but eventually autonomously.
![Wisk Cora Sunrise](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-10/10_uam_wisk.jpg?itok=27CpBMzj)
Wisk Cora
Wisk, a joint venture between Kitty Hawk and Boeing, plans to begin trial commercial operations this year in New Zealand with its two-seat, self-piloted Cora. The lift-plus-cruise eVTOL aircraft has 12 lift fans on booms on the 36-ft.-span wing and a pusher propeller to provide a range of about 25 mi. at 100 mph.
Urban air mobility concepts are beginning to move from prototype to commercial test, with many more electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) designs waiting in the wings.
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