TransportUP

VerdeGo Aero, a company specializing in the manufacturing of powertrains for hybrid-electric flying cars, has announced its strategic partnership with Seyer Industries, a long-time expert in Aerospace manufacturing.

VerdeGo Aero recently made a pivot from building its own flying car to providing fully fleshed out IDEP (integrated distributed electric propulsion) systems for eVTOL air taxis and similar aircraft. Founded by Erik Lindberg, the grandson of Charles Lindbergh, the company seeks to become an industry leader in designing and delivering the systems of electric motors, wiring, and controllers, batteries and hybrid engines necessary for propulsion.

An example of VerdeGo’s Aero’s hyrbid-electric eVTOL propulsion systems

The recent partnership between Seyer and VerdeGo includes financial investment from Seyer, as well as a commitment to jointly build a manufacturing supply chain for VerdeGo’s IDEP systems. Together, the two companies hope to enable the next generation of quiet, efficient, reliable aircraft for markets ranging from urban air mobility to Military missions. VerdeGo and Seyer will initially focus on producing hybrid systems, eventually transitioning into fully electric solutions as battery technology improves.

“The St Louis community was a key part of enabling both my grandfather’s historic flight, and
my work with the XPrize foundation on private spaceflight. It is really special to be partnering
with Seyer Industries to open up the next big leap in aviation – flying cars”–Charles Lindbergh, founder of VerdeGo Aero

Seyer Industries was founded in 1957 and is based out of St. Louis, Missouri. It is a supplier to both commercial and defense OEMs as well as a supplier directly to the US Department of Defense. Seyer is the winner of Lockheed Martin’s 2007 F-35 Small Business of the Year Award, the Premier Supplier Certification from Bell Helicopter in 2010, and Gulfstream’s Superior Performance Award in 2015.

“Seyer Industries sees a huge potential as innovative aerospace companies around the world compete to develop short-range VTOL aircraft with electric propulsion. Our financial investment in VerdeGo and our strategic supply chain partnership enables Seyer to become a key supplier for all of the aircraft utilizing VerdeGo’s IDEP systems.” –Chris Seyer, CEO of Seyer Industries

Why it’s important: VerdeGo Aero’s partnership with Seyer Industries shows that VerdeGo, along with other companies like EHang, is preparing to enter the large–scale manufacturing stage of its production. This indicates VerdeGo’s anticipation of a large upcoming market for its integrated distributed electric propulsion systems (IDEP) specifically made for urban VTOLs.

JETCopter has announced successful testing of its jet-powered VTOL propulsion system, confirming feasibility for the future aircraft. The future aircraft has a predicted range of 620 miles and top speed of 180mph.

Specific details released about the turbines include that they are each 6.6ft in diameter, and create thrust comparable to 36ft helicopter rotors. On November 19th, the company sent out a press release announcing the successful testing of the propulsion system, confirming feasibility of the aircraft.

The JETCopter is unique in that it is one of the only VTOLs powered by jet-fans. It’s built to be adapted with twin 400 horsepower traditional automotive engines, which push air at high speeds through endpoint ducted nozzles that provide both lift and control for the aircraft. According to company, the contained-rotor system could be a safer option for urban areas than other designs with exposed rotors.

Aerial view of the successfully tested propulsion system.

In mid-November, JETCopter released images for an updated version of its design that can carry an additional passenger and be adapted for cargo transport. This update made it one of the largest-capacity VTOLs on the market, and gave the new aircraft the ability to drive on roads as well as through the skies.

JET Copter will bring a full-scale mockup of its latest design AERO 2019 aviation exhibition in Friedrichshafen, Germany in April 2019.

Why its important: The successful completion of the propulsion system test moves JETCopter from a pie-in-the-sky idea to a definite eventual aircraft type, which some are calling ‘copter-planes.’ The successful tests also shows that the JETCopter company can successfully deliver on its goals, and have realistic progress benchmarks. The company plans to develop a full prototype within 24 months.

A new startup has emerged in Mumbai, India. VTOL Aviation India seeks to develop a safe, effective, and efficient air taxi for India, even as Uber Elevate eyes the area for initial test flights.

According to VTOL Aviation India’s website, its goal is to “define a transition aircraft concept with better performance in safety, noise, speed, range and payload than existing concepts, while cutting complexity to one third and reducing the emissions to absolutely negligible fractions.”

It’s possible that because the company is beginning its air taxi efforts now, it will be ready for India market before Uber Elevate arrives. VTOL Aviation India was founded by Mr. Kalyan Chowdhury, who originally held expertise in the shipping and logistics industry in India. The company envisions that its aircraft will be used for civil defense, paramedic & emergency services, surveillance, aviation training, and Tourism & Business Chartering.

The ‘transition aircraft’ as the company calls it, is being developed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. It features eight vertical rotors which lift it vertically, and a ninth rear-facing that provides thrust for horizontal flight. Unlike other VTOL designs, the aircraft does not feature a tilting wing, which reduces the amount of complex moving parts on the aircraft and may therefore bring down manufacturing cost. This design is similar to the KittyHawk Cora which is backed by Google co-founder Larry Page.

VTOL Aviation India yet has yet to make any comments about its position as opposed to Uber Elevate, but its existence may pressure Uber into choosing India as its first international launch city in order to capture the market before companies like VTOL Aviation India do so. Learn more about the company’s goals and vision here. 

Uber Elevate has already selected Dallas, Texas, and Los Angeles California in the United States as it’s initial test locations, but is still deciding on third launch location as either Australia, Brazil, India, France, or Japan. Japan has already founded an initiative to integrate flying cars into the market, and officials in Australia have recently met with Uber Elevate execs as well.

Potential UberAir India route

An Uber Elevate concept plane

Why its important: Competition is rising for the emerging on-demand VTOL industry around the world. As the impending success of the industry becomes more and more apparent, it’s very likely that smaller companies like VTOL Aviation India will begin popping up all over the world; as their geographical location would give them a leg up on bigger companies like Uber in their respective areas.

At the Drone Week conference in Amsterdam, Audi and Airbus jointly showed off a one-fourth scale working model of the Pop.Up concept, which Airbus debuted in May of 2017.

The Pop.Up is a three-part modular vehicle consisting of a passenger pod, a four-wheeled ground adaptation designed by Audi, and a a quad-copter attachment for urban flight.

The Pop.Up model featured at Drone Week was built in collaboration with Italdesign, a world-renowned subsidiary of Audi. In addition to the smaller working model, the companies also exhibited full size mockups of the Pop.Up. Attendees got the chance to experience what it would be like to use the the vehicle.

Pop.Up full size mockup

In the test flight, the small scale prototype picked up the passenger pod from the ground vehicle, carried it a significant distance, and the deposited it back onto the ground vehicle to continue its journey. While the model itself was fairly small, the technology exhibited was impressive and sleek to say the least.

While regulations may be lagging behind, the emergence of the Pop.Up prototype at Drone Week shows that the technology required for aircraft like this is well on its way to ready for market.

And the Pop.Up isn’t Airbus’s only urban aviation aircraft. Also in development is the Airbus Vahana. Vahana is a project worked on by the A^3 technological development arm of Airbus, and is located in Santa Clara, CA. The aircraft uses variable-angle rotors that provide thrust vertically for takeoff and landing and swivel forward to facilitate accelerated conventional flight.

Airbus A^3’s ‘Vahana’ tilting fixed wing urban VTOL.

Why it’s important: With more and more important urban air mobility announcements coming out daily, the world is starting to notice. The Pop.Up prototype video was featured by both Bloomberg and Forbes, and multiple major news networks like CNN have also recently covered stories like the Hoversurf police training in Dubai. Without a doubt, the public is becoming more and more aware of the upcoming urban air mobility revolution, pushing progress further forward.