Electric aircraft will become a standard earlier than expected, said Siemens vice president of electric and hybrid-electric propulsion Terry Hamlin at the Siemens Innovation Day, held in Chicago, Il. Siemens is working alongside Rolls-Royce and Airbus on a regional airplane, dubbed the “eFan”.

Hamlin stated that “Siemens believes the aviation industry is on the verge of a major shift in propulsion”, further supporting the sentiment that the progress in electric propulsion is here to stay, and eventually dominate, the aerospace industry.

Why it’s important: A critical mass of OEM’s and smaller aerospace companies alike have adopted a full-fledged effort to advance the progress of electric propulsion by funding large quantities of research and development. This behind-the-scenes funding and effort is finally coming to fruition under the public eye, and will eventually be applied to commercial airliners, helicopters, and flying cars and taxis.

*A note – TransportUp recently wrote about Siemen’s advances in electric propulsion technology. Read about them here.

Source

• https://www.flyingmag.com/electric-aircraft-might-become-an-industry-standard-sooner-than-expected
• https://jalopnik.com/flying-taxi-startup-backed-by-toyota-and-intel-raises-1822631292

Volocopter may be the new alternative to the flying car – and it has flight tests under its belt to prove it. The 16-rotor manned eVTOL aircraft (dubbed the VC200) is built by German manufacturer Volocopter and tested in Karlsruhe. The VC200 is estimated to fly at an altitude of around 2km with payloads of up to 450kg.

The Volocopter VC200 was so unlike anything German aviation authorities had seen before that the aircraft was registered under a new category in order to comply with flight regulations.

Why it’s important: Volocopter was previously featured on transportup.com when the company was seeking additional funding after their 2012 introduction of the VC200. Six years later, their concept is finally coming to fruition, and represents a functional flying taxi eVTOL aircraft that is ready to use once certification and public sentiment catch up to the rapid technological development of the flying taxi industry in recent years.

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Helicopter charter company Blade has raised $38 million to build flying taxi infrastructure from Airbus and Real Estate Investment firm Colony NorthStar. The Series B fundraising also included Lerer Hippeau Ventures and LionTree Ventures.

The funds raised in the Series B round will be used to construct “vertiports” which are similar to helipads, but designed for flying taxis.

Blade and Airbus are partnering on the “Airbus Ride” program in Dallas. Airbus Ride transports users to and from AT&T Stadium on conventional helicopters. The two companies also plan to launch intra-city helicopter flights outside of the U.S., which would mark the first international operation by Blade.

Why it’s important: This fundraising round solidifies Blade as a major contender for a large market share of the flying taxi industry. Blade already has a large amount of experience in the customer facing operation of an aviation charter company. Leveraging this experience will allow Blade to swap helicopters for flying taxis with relative ease.

Blade was previously featured on TUp.com when Airbus was considering investing.

Related Links:

• https://www.axios.com/blade-evtol-15216552880-e54f99c0-6589-4af7-a50a-f094e85ee914.html
• https://www.airbusride.com/pages/urban-mobility