Taking into account the multiple advances of companies immersed in the development of electric flying vehicles with vertical takeoff and landing, there is no doubt that this new alternative will begin to play a relevant role in passenger transportation in the near future. Although most proposals are still in different phases of development, there is already one that is ready to operate legally.
This is the case of the manufacturer EHang, which has just officially received the certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for its eVTOL autonomous passenger vehicle, called EH216-S. This is an industry first not only in China but throughout the world. And it is the first of its kind to achieve a certification of this type, which begins to pave the way for the autonomous flying taxi sector worldwide.
In this way, China will soon have this type of electric vehicles flying over its territory. Although various international aviation authorities still require that air taxis have pilots on board for safety reasons, the Asian country's CAAC has gone one step further by giving the green light to EHang's much-discussed proposal for 100% autonomous operations.
The vehicle is two-seater and is designed for short distance trips. It should be noted that it is equipped with 16 electric motors, can fly at a maximum speed of 130 km/h and is capable of offering a range of up to 30 km per recharge.
The EH216-S has achieved certification in China in less than three years, having first applied for it by the manufacturer in early 2021. Its autonomous test flights date back to 2017 and since then, EHang has performed more than 40,000 . Among them are those carried out last year, when the company carried out a tour of demonstration flights through four cities outside its borders, in this case in Japan.
Where EHang plans to start its commercial autonomous flying taxi operations has not yet been made public, but the manufacturer has already closed several deals with aviation operators over the past few years, both in China and abroad. And the Chinese eVTOL manufacturer assures that it is preparing its international expansion, which will have even greater weight by 2024.
Its main partners include Xiyu Tourism, a Chinese company that plans to offer low-altitude tourist flights with more than 100 EHang air taxis in the next five years. We must not overlook other international collaborators such as Japan AirX (in Japan), Aerotree (in Malaysia) and Prestige (in Indonesia), which have placed orders for more than 1,000 units between the three of them.
If you are interested in seeing the EH216-S in mid-flight, you just have to take a look at the video that accompanies this article.
