The Rise of The Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) Aircraft

Electric vertical take-off and landing is one of the very latest innovations in the aerospace industry. Also referred to as a 'flying car' or 'air taxi', one of these giant drone look-alikes could soon be ferrying you to your destination. Jim Scott, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Artemis Aerospace, had a look at a technological achievement which one might spot soaring over there house before too long...

We're used to helicopters whirring overhead, carrying businesspeople to meetings, celebrities to lunch or an air ambulance crew on their way to an incident. We may have spotted a drone as it's sent up to take an aerial photograph for an estate agent, and any day now we're expecting one to drop off our latest online parcel order.

However, you may not know this technology has advanced so much that an eVTOL aircraft for the transportation of people now has serious commercial potential, and there are a number of prototypes being designed and developed.

In 2021, $6.9 billion was committed to eVTOL startup conceptualisation and manufacture, and this is now coming to fruition, with at least seven versions due to take to the skies in the next few years.

The phrase 'flying car' may bring to mind an image of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but the kind of blueprint produced at R&D departments throughout the aviation industry is light years ahead. Major advances in electric propulsion brought about by the rise of sustainable battery-operated cars have given rise to the idea of a quiet, environmentally friendly, and less expensive way of transporting goods and people.