Paris Air Show – eVTOL

eVTOLs, if well connected with existing public transportation infrastructure, promise to enhance the existing transportation ecosystem by addressing congestion and pollution, and significantly reducing transportation times – at a potentially competitive cost.

In the near future, Europe and the US are expected leverage differently eVTOLs. While inter-city travels in the US are in majority performed by plane, requiring significant transfer time for journeys from city center to city center, Europe benefits from well-developed high-speed train network.

Short to medium-length routes could likely have therefore higher traction for eVTOL operations in the initial stages. The upcoming Paris Olympics games are expected to provide a great testing field for the Volocopter’s devices and the Parisian AAM infrastructure, using existing helicopter routes between Paris and Charles de Gaulle.

As for years most of the efforts were focused on the vehicle-end, however, considerable landing , charging, communications and parking infrastructure investments are now required. Technical developments in the field of autonomy, batteries and safety will also be crucial to foster the eVTOL adoption. Finally, defining clear standards and regulations for AAM will be crucial as eVTOL status is still unclear regarding aviation standards.