EVTOL

Lore & Background

The concept of eVTOL aircraft emerged in 2009 when a video of the NASA Puffin eVTOL concept went viral on November 11, 2009, showcasing a single person concept rendering of the technology, and concept in flight. Following this, the first Puffin paper was presented at the VFS Specialists Conference on Aeromechanics on January 9, 2010.

This concept utilized a new technology developed at NASA called Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP). Additional Puffin papers were published on September 13 at the 10th AIAA ATIO Conference. The term eVTOL was officially introduced by the Vertical Flight Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in 2014 during the "Transformative Vertical Flight Concepts Joint Workshop on Enabling New Flight Concepts through Novel Propulsion and Energy Architectures" held in Virginia.

Since then, there has been a significant increase in interest among aircraft manufacturers for eVTOLs. Original eVTOL aircraft designs are being developed by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including legacy manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Honda, Hyundai, LEO Flight and Toyota, as well as several start-up companies, including Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies, EHang, Joby Aviation, Overair, and Volocopter.

This ecosystem includes spin-offs like Eve Air Mobility from Embraer, and partnerships such as Wisk Aero, a joint venture between Boeing and Larry Page's Kitty Hawk. Uber published a paper on a project called Elevate that outlined the feasibility of an on-demand aviation transportation system, which helped advance the concepts of eVTOL aircraft and Urban Air Mobility. In December 2020, Uber's Elevate was acquired by Joby Aviation.

Flight mechanisms

Various flight mechanisms are used across designs. Multicopters typically operate without wings, using radial arms to host motors and propellers.

Convertiplane designs change the direction of thrust, vectoring thrust vertically for takeoff/landing and horizontally while cruising, with examples including tilt-wing and tilt-rotor configurations. Lift and cruise systems use one set of motors for vertical flight and another set for cruising. In 2021, a study published by the National Academy of Sciences showed that eVTOL aircraft could have an energy efficiency comparable to or higher than terrestrial electric vehicles, and assigned a high technological readiness level for battery-powered eVTOLs.

From Viral Video to Formal Recognition

The story of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft begins with a moment of viral internet fame. On November 11, 2009, a video of NASA's Puffin concept — a single-person vertical flight vehicle — spread widely online, capturing public imagination with its sleek rendering and simulated flight. The following January, the first Puffin technical paper was presented at the VFS Specialists Conference on Aeromechanics, introducing the Distributed Electric Propulsion technology that NASA had developed to power the design.

Further academic work followed at the 10th AIAA ATIO Conference later that year, covering both the electric tailsitter configuration and a redundant powertrain system. Industry took notice quickly: by 2011, projects like AugustaWestland's Project Zero in Italy, Germany's Volocopter VC1, and the US-based Opener BlackFly were already in development. The concept received its most formal institutional endorsement in 2014, when the Vertical Flight Society and AIAA co-hosted a joint workshop in Virginia dedicated to enabling new flight concepts through novel propulsion and energy architectures.

A Global Ecosystem of Builders

The development landscape for eVTOL aircraft spans legacy aerospace giants, automotive manufacturers, and a wave of dedicated startups. Established players like Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and LEO Flight have all committed to the space, while newer entrants such as Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies, EHang, Joby Aviation, Overair, and Volocopter have pushed the technology forward with fresh engineering approaches.

The ecosystem also features interesting structural hybrids: Eve Air Mobility emerged as a spin-off from Embraer's EmbraerX division, and Wisk Aero was launched as a joint venture pairing Boeing with Larry Page's Kitty Hawk. This breadth of participation — from multinational conglomerates to garage-born startups — reflects the cross-industry nature of the challenge, drawing simultaneously on expertise in aviation, automotive engineering, software, and energy storage. Four American firms — Joby Aviation, Beta Technologies, Lift Aircraft, and Kitty Hawk — have also secured military airworthiness contracts through the US Agility Prime program, underscoring that the technology serves both civilian and defense missions.

From Science Fiction to a Pursued Aerospace Sector

The transition of eVTOL from speculative concept to an active aerospace industry owes much to the urban air mobility movement. Uber's Elevate project, outlined in a paper co-authored by Jeff Holden, Nikhil Goel, and Mark Moore, demonstrated the feasibility of an on-demand aviation transportation network. The annual Elevate summits Uber hosted between 2017 and 2019 helped catalyze dozens of development projects across the sector. In December 2020, Joby Aviation acquired Uber Elevate, with CEO JoeBen Bivert praising the team's software tools and more than a decade of on-demand mobility experience.

Airlines also entered the picture: in October 2020, Delta committed sixty million dollars to Joby Aviation for air cab service. Boeing, meanwhile, announced in April 2024 plans to enter the Asian eVTOL market by 2030 through its Wisk Aero subsidiary, targeting fast short-distance travel in the region's traffic-choked cities. A 2021 Carnegie Mellon study further validated the technology's commercial potential, showing battery-powered eVTOLs could match or exceed the energy efficiency of terrestrial electric vehicles.

Engineering the Machine

At its core, an eVTOL aircraft is a coordinated system of electric motors, battery packs, electronic controllers, and propellers working together to enable vertical hover, take-off, and landing. The specific architectures vary dramatically across the industry. Tetra Aviation's Mk5, a single-seat personal eVTOL, distributes 32 vertical lift rotors across long, thin front and rear wings, adds a rear pusher prop for cruising, and carries a 13.5-kWh battery. It stands 2.51 meters tall, spans 8.62 meters, and features at least three redundant flight controllers plus a parachute for total-failure scenarios.

Urban eVTOL's Leo takes a different approach with 16 ducted fans for vertical lift and six turbine-bladed rear engines for horizontal thrust, housed in a double box-wing design with a 66-kWh split battery. Both designs emphasize redundancy and pilot safety. The broader category also includes hybrid propulsion systems that promise lower operating costs, and a 2021 National Academy of Sciences study assigned a high technological readiness level to battery-powered eVTOLs, confirming the engineering foundation is sound.

Reader's Guide

The significance of eVTOL aircraft lies in their potential to transform urban and regional transportation by offering quieter, greener, and potentially lower-cost flight compared to conventional helicopters. The concept, first demonstrated by NASA's Puffin in 2009, quickly attracted both legacy aerospace manufacturers and numerous startups, creating a diverse ecosystem of developers. The publication of Uber's Elevate paper and subsequent summits from 2017 to 2019 helped shift eVTOL from a science-fiction concept to a serious aerospace sector pursued by dozens of projects.

Major milestones include the first crewed eVTOL flight in South Korea by Volocopter in 2021, and the acquisition of Uber Elevate by Joby Aviation in 2020. The U.S. military's Agility Prime program awarded military airworthiness contracts to four American companies: Joby Aviation, Beta Technologies, Lift Aircraft, and Kitty Hawk. Several eVTOL developers, including Archer, Joby, Lilium, and Vertical, went public through special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

Large orders have been placed, with Archer Aviation's indicative order book exceeding US$6 billion and Embraer signing contracts for 2,850 orders valued at US$8 billion as of March 2024. In April 2024, Boeing announced plans to enter the eVTOL business in Asia by 2030 through subsidiary Wisk Aero. The technology continues to evolve, with designs ranging from multicopters to tilt-rotor and lift-and-cruise configurations, all aimed at enabling Advanced Air Mobility and Urban Air Mobility.