{"id":618465,"date":"2023-03-16T09:49:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/16\/these-aircraft-could-change-how-we-fly\/"},"modified":"2023-03-16T09:49:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:49:32","slug":"these-aircraft-could-change-how-we-fly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/16\/these-aircraft-could-change-how-we-fly\/","title":{"rendered":"These aircraft could change how we fly"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday,\u00a0sign up here.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This week I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole and developed a mild obsession with flying cars\u2014or the version of them that\u2019s hot right now in Silicon Valley, at least.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Some companies think it\u2019s time the aviation industry got a makeover, and many are betting it\u2019ll come in the form of eVTOLs<\/strong>: electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles. It\u2019s a horrible acronym for small aircraft that take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a plane. (Typically, it\u2019s pronounced ee-vee-toll<\/em>, in case you were wondering.)<\/p>\n

If eVTOLs can get off the ground and gain regulatory approval, they could change how we think about flight. But that\u2019s a big \u201cif,\u201d and there are other questions for the industry to answer before these new flying vehicles become a reality. So let\u2019s take a look at eVTOLs: what they are, how close they are to taking off, and whether any of this is a good idea for the climate.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are eVTOLs, and why are so many companies building them?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a range of possibilities for new electric aircraft, but the eVTOL category basically includes anything that takes off and lands vertically. Most of them look like robotic bugs to me, or something a villain might fly in a James Bond movie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trying to compare eVTOLs to existing aircraft is tricky. Some call them flying cars<\/a>, though they typically aren\u2019t really designed to move around on the ground. They\u2019re probably closest to an electric version of helicopters, though they fly using different mechanics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Whatever you call them, there are literally hundreds of companies<\/a> working to bring eVTOLs to the skies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A lot of the excitement centers on the fact that the vehicles could open up new uses for flight: completing last-mile delivery to rural places, transporting people or organs to hospitals, or avoiding the traffic in big metropolitan areas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will say that some of these needs could probably be filled by a robust public transit system. (We shouldn\u2019t have to fly to get easily from Newark Airport to downtown Manhattan, a service one eVTOL company plans to <\/a>offer.) But given the current state of our infrastructure, especially in the US, eVTOL companies see an opening to get people around faster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the status of these things?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are some really well-funded eVTOL startups<\/a> working to build the next big thing in flight. Two of the biggest, Joby Aviation<\/a> and Archer Aviation<\/a>, are based in the US. There are also some late-stage startups based in Europe, including Lilium<\/a> in Germany.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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So far, no eVTOLs have launched commercially, though several companies have announced plans to enter commercial service in 2025.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right now, companies are testing prototypes and showing off what they can do\u2014a company called Autoflight broke the world record for the longest eVTOL flight just last month<\/a>. The aircraft covered just over 155 miles (250 kilometers)\u2014about a mile longer than the previous record, held by Joby.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But despite impressive test flights, questions remain about how close we really are to seeing commercial eVTOLs hit the skies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Getting regulatory approval could be a sticking point. Agencies in the US and EU both plan to classify eVTOLs as a special class of aircraft, meaning they\u2019ll be subject to a different set of requirements from conventional aircraft. There\u2019s still some uncertainty about how that whole process will go down, especially in the US.<\/p>\n

Still, some companies are charging ahead. Archer began construction on a manufacturing facility<\/a> in Georgia earlier this year, which could begin production as soon as 2024 and make up to 650 aircraft per year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What would eVTOLs mean for climate?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Swapping out fossil-fuel-powered aircraft for electric ones could be a climate win.<\/p>\n

When it comes to more conventional aircraft, an electric plane charged using an average grid could cut emissions by about 50%<\/a> compared with a fossil-fuel-powered plane. If electric planes are instead charged using all renewables, emissions cuts jump to a maximum of 88%. Most of those remaining emissions come from battery production\u2014because they\u2019ll probably be flying and charging a lot, batteries might need replacing every year or so.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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But when it comes to eVTOLs\u2019 impact on climate, it\u2019s important to consider that the vehicles might not be replacing fossil-fuel-powered airplanes. The idea is to expand flight, so eVTOLs might need to be compared with ground-based vehicles like trains or cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There\u2019s not a ton of analysis out there yet, but one study found that an eVTOL traveling 60 miles (100 kilometers) would produce about 30% less in emissions than a gas-powered car<\/a>. But the eVTOL would be about 30% worse than an electric vehicle.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n