eHang has come a long way and it is showing prospective clients what an electric vertical take-off & landing (eVTOL) autonomous aircraft looks like — the eHang 216 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV).
Although the eHang 216 is not yet certified, it is in the process of getting certified, and in the meantime going on demonstrations flights in very controlled environments.
The EHang 216 is based on the EHang 184, yet it has eight arms instead of four. This allows for the vehicle to be seat two passengers instead of just one. It can fly 25 min for a range of 30–40 km.
The aircraft is targeted for autonomous flying, to be monitored from an Ehang or its customer command-and-control center.
Austrian aerostructures supplier FACC AG partnered with Ehang to certify and produce the aircraft in Europe, within simpler certification requirements for takeoff weights below 600 kg
The eVTOL is designed to let anyone fly simply by using its GPS screen and intuitively executing a flight plan.
EHang216 Took to the Sky in Qatar
So far, Austrian media giant ProSiebenSat.1 and FACC, an aviation company, are set to start producing eHang AAVs in Austria next year.
To date, eHang says it has tested its eVTOL for thousands of unmanned flight hours in China. It is slowly becoming a leader in the race to make autonomous transportation part of our future urban air mobility (UAM) a reality.
eHang is one of those companies that will be remembered as one of the first to get on the market. It has an eVTOL aircraft that already works and will only get better with time.
Reference- Clean Technica, EHang website, eVTOL news website