TCab Tech's five-seat E20 eVTOL aircraft will have six rotors, each powered by its own Safran EngineUs 100 electric motor. Safran is already providing its motors for several new fixed-wing electric aircraft and is now pursuing its first publicly acknowledged eVTOL program under an agreement with the Chinese start-up that was announced this week.

A letter of intent signed by Quebec-based Vertiko Mobility and Jaunt Air Mobility calls for potential sales of 70 of the all-electric Journey aircraft, plus at least two of the longer-range hybrid-electric models and options for 25 more units. The companies expect to firm up the contract in March 2025, by which time Vertiko says it will have built an initial five vertiports and Jaunt expects to be close to achieving type certification for its aircraft.

Lilium claims to be the first company to achieve a transition from vertical hover to wing-borne cruise flight with a full-sized electric jet aircraft with ducted fan engines.The transition is critical to the ability of an eVTOL aircraft to operate flexibly, and Lilium says it will now extend the flight test campaign with the technology demonstrator as it prepares to build a full-scale production-conforming prototype in 2023.

Joby’s receipt of its FAA Part 135 Air Carrier Certificate would allow the company to start on-demand air taxi operations with its Cirrus SR22 and “a small number” of other traditional fixed-wing aircraft.The company submitted more than 850 pages of manuals for approval and its pilots demonstrated competence with the associated procedures and training under FAA observation.

In a month-long set of flight trials, Brazilian helicopter operator Helisul Aviação helped Eve to gather the data on which its recently published concept of operations for urban air mobility for Rio de Janeiro was based. It proved to be an interesting study of what happens when passengers interact with a new mode of transportation.

Osaka, Japan, is being prepared as a proving ground for eVTOL air taxi services that are set to begin in 2025. The required ground infrastructure could include vertiports integrated with existing parking lots under a new collaboration between local companies Park24, Aioi Nissay Dowa, and Kanematsu, and ground infrastructure specialist Skyports.

Aircraft ground handling chain Jetex will build and operate takeoff and landing infrastructure and services for eVTOLs under a strategic partnership with Volocopter. The company provides its services mainly in the private and business aviation sectors.

Archer Aviation has still achieved only one short hover flight with its Maker eVTOL technology demonstrator but insists that it is making sufficient progress with development work to keep the program on track to receive type certification with the full-scale aircraft in 2024. Ground testing, including wind tunnel work, has been a big part of the focus this year, but as it prepares to resume flight testing with the Maker during the second half of 2022, the company has been using a flying subscale model called Betty to gather some of the required data. In this new video, the head of Archer’s flight team explains how the model is helping it to ensure it can safely and effectively advance the development work.

Eviation's Alice is an all-electric fixed-wing aircraft being developed for both scheduled regional airline service and business transportation on flights of up to around 650 miles.