In a year’s time the Summer Olympics will be underway in Paris.
The athletes will, of course, be hoping to make history, but so will one aviation start-up, Volocopter.
If all goes to plan, its two-seater electric aircraft, VoloCity, will be carrying passengers around Paris. It will be the first service in Europe to use an electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) aircraft.
Dozens of companies around the world have been developing EVTOL aircraft, promising quieter, cheaper and emission-free aircraft, that can land right in the heart of cities.
Volocopter expects to get the European aerospace regulator, EASA, to clear its machine, the VoloCity to carry passengers in the next few months, so they can be ready for the Olympics.
“Everything is ready and set to go for the middle of next year,” says Christian Bauer, the German company’s chief financial officer.
Three routes will connect the centre of Paris with the city’s airports and heliport. Volocopter will also offer round trips for sightseeing.
Volocopter expects to get the European aerospace regulator, EASA, to clear its machine, the VoloCity to carry passengers in the next few months, so they can be ready for the Olympics.
“Everything is ready and set to go for the middle of next year,” says Christian Bauer, the German company’s chief financial officer
Three routes will connect the centre of Paris with the city’s airports and heliport. Volocopter will also offer round trips for sightseeing.
Volocopter expects to get the European aerospace regulator, EASA, to clear its machine, the VoloCity to carry passengers in the next few months, so they can be ready for the Olympics.
“Everything is ready and set to go for the middle of next year,” says Christian Bauer, the German company’s chief financial officer.
Three routes will connect the centre of Paris with the city’s airports and heliport. Volocopter will also offer round trips for sightseeing.
Volocopter expects to get the European aerospace regulator, EASA, to clear its machine, the VoloCity to carry passengers in the next few months, so they can be ready for the Olympics.
“Everything is ready and set to go for the middle of next year,” says Christian Bauer, the German company’s chief financial officer.
Three routes will connect the centre of Paris with the city’s airports and heliport. Volocopter will also offer round trips for sightseeing.
Mr Fehrm says the present lack of battery capacity limits the conditions that EVTOL aircraft can fly in. For example, a helicopter is likely to have the range to fly around a storm, EVTOL aircraft with a much more limited range, would not be able to do that.
As well as improving the battery technology, the new EVTOL firms will have to set up factories to produce their aircraft in greater numbers.
That’s likely to be an expensive process, as EVTOL aircraft use the same processes as the aircraft industry which are not suitable for low-cost, high-rate production, according to Mr Fehrm.
Darrell Swanson, an aviation consultant who specialises in electric aviation, agrees that battery technology rollout is “a challenging process but it is accelerating”.
He also makes the point that the new firms will have to get much bigger: “It is crucial for the industry to scale-up to avoid adopting a model limited to business travellers or financially privileged individuals.”
In April, Volocopter opened its first assembly line in Bruchsal, near Stuttgart in southern Germany, capable of producing 50 aircraft a year, but it hopes by the end of the decade to be producing between 5,000 and 7,000 aircraft every year.
Mr Bauer acknowledges that there is much work and investment to be done.
“I would say we are at the last step of the first marathon to certify that vehicle. So then the next marathon begins – to get to profitability.”
Source from: bbc.com