Electric air transport vehicles, hailed as the mobility of the future for cities, were on display at the Singapore Airshow among displays of defence jets, passenger aeroplanes and cutting-edge aviation technology.

Electric vertical take-off and landing, or eVTOL, vehicles are able to land and take off vertically. They can be used as private automobiles, cargo delivery, medical and emergency response vehicles, and air taxis.

Three of the major names supporting eVTOLs were interviewed by CNBC at the airshow: Supernal, owned by the Hyundai Motor Group; Wisk, backed by Boeing; and Eve Air Mobility, owned by Embraer. All three companies hope to commercialise their vehicles before the end of this decade.

One of the earliest potential applications of eVTOLs that they emphasised was air taxi services for short-distance travel above cities.

“So it’s just going to be another way to travel instead of just going from the airport to downtown and you get stuck in your car for two hours … well, they’ll have an alternative that could be fully electrical,” Johann Bordais, chief executive officer of Eve Air Mobility, told CNBC.

Eve wants to get its air taxi concept operational by 2026, and is already testing a prototype.

Supernal’s CEO, Jaiwon Shin, told CNBC, “We can use similar infrastructure that helicopter operators currently have.”

He added that although the operations may begin in urban regions, they would eventually expand to routes that serve smaller cities as well.

“We are open to all possible use cases because there is no existing market out there,” Shin said.

The S-A2 eVTOL prototype by Supernal, which was presented earlier this year and can accommodate four people in addition to a pilot, is anticipated to go on sale in 2028.

Wisk, a company supported by Boeing, is now developing a self-flying aircraft that shares features with Supernal.

At the Singapore Airshow, German eVTOL developer Lilium, supported by Tencent, declared that it has established a customer service company for the eVTOL sector, including services like battery management, maintenance, and flight assistance.

To begin eVTOL operations in the United States, companies stated that they will pursue safety and regulatory certifications in the nation.

The business intends to enter the United States before the end of this decade, according to Catherine MacGowan, vice president of APAC and air operations at Wisk, who also mentioned that Wisk was in discussions with Brisbane, Australia authorities to set up a network to operate eVTOLs.

Prior to the Olympic Games, we want to develop and expand Brisbane’s and the surrounding cities’ mobility networks. So that’s very thrilling,” MacGowan remarked. Brisbane will hold the Olympics in 2032.

According to MacGowan, Wisk has teamed up with Japan Airlines to expand operations in Japan and other Asian nations, an area that the industry considers to have significant growth potential.

Supernals Shin stated that the business, which has the support of the massive Hyundai Motor Group, would also be considering growing into South Korea.

In October, Supernal and Korean Air, the country’s largest airline, inked an agreement for the construction and development of the infrastructure required for Supernal’s eVTOL vehicle to be commercialised in Korea and for air travel between cities.

Shin mentioned that Supernal’s solutions have also garnered interest from Incheon International Airport, the primary international airport in South Korea.

Director of Alton Aviation Consultancy Alan Lim stated, “The region sees many supportive regulators – in Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand,” but cautioned that Asia also has difficulties in creating an ecosystem to enable widespread eVTOL operations.

Shin from Supernal stated that he anticipates the eVTOL business to resemble the car sector rather than the “commercial aviation industry, where Boeing and Airbus pretty much dominate the global market.”

According to Lim of Alton aircraft, unlike the commercial aircraft industry, no single form factor can control the market due to the diverse spectrum of eVTOL designs and application cases.

As a result, we both feel that the eVTOL sector will resemble the automobile industry more than before, with a lot of big and small manufacturers coexisting and some possibly finding niche markets and applications for their vehicles.

(Adapted from CNBC.com)

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