Less than half (47 per cent) would be worried about the cost of flights while only 38 per cent say comfort during flights would be a concern and 43 per cent are worried about the environmental impact. Horizon said the responses indicated that safety issues would need to be rigorously addressed with three out of four (76 per cent) of those surveyed saying worries about eVTOL safety would be the biggest deterrent for using air taxis while 69 per cent would want reassurances about the training of pilots. Safety concerns must be addressed before UAM market takes off The figures are similar for using air taxis in other countries with 18 per cent definitely opposed and 21 per cent unsure. Just 16 per cent globally would not fly in air taxis if they are approved in their home country while one in five (20 per cent) are unsure. People in the UAE (87 per cent) and India (82 per cent) are the most likely to try air taxis once they are approved in their country while South Africans (88 per cent) are the most positive about other countries. The study, which interviewed participants in 10 countries across North America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and Asia, found 65 per cent of adults will fly in electric vertical take and landing (eVTOL) air taxis once they were approved by regulators in their own country while 61 per cent would use them in other countries where regulators have approved them. It found that nearly two out of three would fly in an eVTOLs once they were approved and commercially viable. The research predicts the success for the newly emerging market, but only once regulation, safety and pilot training issues are addressed. Horizon Aircraft, developer of the Cavorite X5, the first eVTOL which can fly the majority of its mission exactly like a normal aircraft, has released research giving a consumer view of the air taxi market.

Some high-profile eVTOLS are using batteries that weigh 600kg or more, and have a range of between 100km and 200 km.With the announcement of Halo’s order of 200 Embraer Eve and testing of other air taxi vehicles such as the eHang autonomous aerial vehicle the era of advanced urban mobility is rapidly gaining pace. The weight of batteries used for the Cavorite X5 is only 200 kg, providing it with a range of 500 km with a hybrid-electric power system. The batteries used by some eVTOL aircraft will make this impossible to achieve,” Mr Robinson added. “eVTOLs need to be safe, affordable, and have an operational cost structure that makes them economically viable. eVTOL aircraft with heavy batteries or ones that take too long to recharge will have access to fewer vertiports and vertistops.” One of the biggest operational barriers to deploying a VTOL fleet in cities is finding sufficient locations to place landing pads, and the facilities needed to recharge and service aircraft. However, these lighter Batteries can be damaged easily, increasing the rate at which they need to be replaced, which will increase costs.īrandon Robinson, CEO and Co-Founder of Horizon Aircraft, said: “The type of batteries used by eVTOL aircraft will also impact what vertiports and vertistops they can use.

Many prototypes currently under development must use advanced, high energy density variants.

It warns some of the batteries used are simply too heavy for long-range commutes, and their charging times too slow to support the number of flights required.įurthermore, the lifecycle of many batteries being used is also too short. Horizon Aircraft, the advanced aerospace engineering company that has developed the Cavorite X5, the world’s first eVTOL -electric vertical take-off and landing- that can fly the majority of its mission exactly like a normal aircraft, said the current battery technology being used by some eVTOL aircraft could make them commercially unviable.

Horizon cavorite x5