A FLYING “air taxi” has flown for a record 523 miles – despite being powered by hydrogen and electricity alone.
The breakthrough Joby Aviation aircraft could cut the hour-long journey from New York City’s JFK airport to Manhattan to just seven minutes.
This latest mammoth flight took place in California however, where it touched down with 10% of its hydrogen fuel load to spare.
And thanks to its unique eco-fuel system, the only direct by-product of the flight was water.
Joby’s “air taxi” its a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-electric aircraft that takes off and lands vertically.
“Traveling by air is central to human progress, but we need to find ways to make it cleaner,” said Joby founder and chief JoeBen Bevirt.
“With our battery-electric air taxi set to fundamentally change the way we move around cities, we’re excited to now be building a technology stack that could redefine regional travel using hydrogen-electric aircraft.”
Joby previously tested a fully-electric version of the craft over a much shorter trip across New York City in late 2023.
And Joby said that its air taxis would be able to cut the Manhattan to JFK journey to seven minutes – versus the hour it can take by car.
The company also added that the air taxi could cover “99% of all trips taken today across New York City’s five boroughs”.
That particular craft was only capable of travelling 100 miles on a single charge.
But the new hydrogen-electric model can fly much farther.
“Imagine being able to fly from San Francisco to San Diego, Boston to Baltimore, or Nashville to New Orleans without the need to go to an airport and with no emissions except water,” Bevirt explaind.
“That world is closer than ever, and the progress we’ve made towards certifying the battery-electric version of our aircraft gives us a great head start as we look ahead to making hydrogen-electric flight a reality.”
The new hydrogen-electric model uses the same airframe and design as Joby’s regular battery aircraft.
But it includes a liquid hydrogen fuel tank designed by Joby that can store up to 40 kilos of liquid hydrogen.
That means it only needs to carry a “reduced mass of batteries”.
“Hydrogen is fed into a fuel cell system, designed and built by H2FLY, to produce electricity, water, and heat,” Joby explained.
“The electricity produced by the hydrogen fuel cell powers the six electric motors on the Joby aircraft, with the batteries providing additional power primarily during take-off and landing.”
Joby’s aircraft can carry a single pilot plus four riders.
THE global race for flying taxis, or urban air mobility (UAM), is highly competitive, with numerous companies developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and related technologies.
The competition is driving rapid advancements in the field, with many of these players aiming to launch commercial operations within the next few years.
As well as Wisk Aero, here are some of the prominent players in this space:
JOBY AVIATION – Santa Cruz, California, USA: Joby Aviation is one of the leading companies in the eVTOL space. It has received significant investment from Toyota and has partnered with Uber. Joby aims to launch an aerial ridesharing service.
VOLOCOPTER – Bruchsal, Germany: Volocopter develops electric helicopters designed for urban air mobility. The Volocopter 2X and VoloCity are their flagship models. The company has conducted test flights in various cities, including Singapore and Dubai.
LILIUM – Munich, Germany: Lilium is developing the Lilium Jet, a five-seat eVTOL aircraft. The company aims to create a regional air mobility network. Lilium has raised substantial funding and has conducted several successful test flights.
ARCHER AVIATION – Palo Alto, California, USA: Archer is focused on developing a fully electric air taxi. The company has a partnership with United Airlines and plans to launch commercial operations by 2024.
EHANG – Guangzhou, China: EHang develops autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) for passenger and logistics transportation. The EHang 216 is a notable model that has been tested in various cities worldwide.
EMBRAERX (EVE AIR MOBILITY) – São José dos Campos, Brazil: Eve Air Mobility, a subsidiary of Embraer, is developing eVTOL aircraft and urban air traffic management solutions. The company aims to leverage Embraer’s aerospace expertise to advance UAM.
HYUNDAI URBAN AIR MOBILITY (SUPERNAL) – South Korea / USA: Hyundai is actively developing eVTOL aircraft through its Supernal division. The company envisions integrating air taxis into urban transportation networks.
BELL TEXTRON – Fort Worth, Texas, USA: Bell is developing the Nexus 4EX, an eVTOL aircraft designed for urban air mobility. Bell has a long history in helicopter manufacturing and aims to apply this expertise to the UAM sector.
It’s reportedly as “quiet as a conversation”, and reaches nippy top speeds of 200mph.
Joby hopes to get full approval for flying from the USA’s FAA to launch an “aerial ridesharing service” – like Uber, but in the sky.
You’d book flights through an app to skip regular road traffic.
And Joby’s chief says that the company’s efforts to get the regular electric air taxi approved will also help boost the hydrogen model’s progress too.
“The vast majority of the design, testing and certification work we’ve completed on our battery-electric aircraft carries over to commercializing hydrogen-electric flight.
“In service, we also expect to be able to use the same landing pads, the same operations team, and Joby’s ElevateOS software that will support the commercial operation of our battery-electric aircraft.”
