California-based autonomous eVTOL developer Wisk Aero has revealed its sixth-generation aircraft. The four-seat, fixed-wing aircraft will operate without a pilot on board.

From a new base at Napa County Airport in California, AutoFlight will expand the flight test program for its four-seat Prosperity I eVTOL aircraft. Under the leadership of newly appointed president Omer Bar-Yohay, the company says, it will significantly undercut rivals in terms of both purchase and operating costs for the model, which is due to come to market in 2025.

Textron Aviation will work with hydrogen-propulsion pioneer ZeroAvia to develop a program to convert its Cessna Grand Caravan turboprop aircraft to use the ZA600 powertrain. ZeroAvia says it expects to be able to get the technology certified in 2025, and it is also working on plans to convert regional airliners to hydrogen propulsion.

Sabrewing and its partner, Safran, have taken more time to improve the thrust available from the turbo-electric adaptation of the Ariel 2E helicopter engine. The Rhaegal B production aircraft is expected to be able to carry a payload of 5,400 pounds on flights of 1,000 nm. A subscale RH-1-A prototype is being used for early flight testing.

European private charter flight operator GlobeAir has become the latest business aircraft operator to commit to buying Lilium’s six-passenger eVTOL vehicle. It plans to offer the all-electric aircraft for both "first-and-last mile" services and point-to-point flights in markets such as the French Riviera and Italy.

Since the Civil Aviation Administration of China approved the special-condition rules for certifying EHang's autonomous, two-passenger EH216-S eVTOL vehicle in February, EHang says it has made significant progress with compliance and verification testing. Now the agency has agreed to a Project Specific Certification Plan covering the remaining airworthiness approval work.

Kite Magnetics is preparing to start testing a 65-kilowatt electric motor for use on two-seat light aircraft, with backing from an oversubscribed seed funding round. The Australian company says that it plans to scale up the technology, based on its new Aeroperm magnetic material, to develop much larger 650-kilowatt motors and eventually a one-megawatt-class propulsion system for regional airliners.

Car makers believe they can help to transform air transport with mass-produced eVTOL aircraft like the S-A1 model that Hyundai recently rolled out at a major international air show. The company’s new Supernal division is committed to reducing aviation’s carbon footprint and also to changing the way people live and work with improved transportation options in and around major cities.

In September 2022, Heart Aerospace abandoned plans to develop an all-electric 19-seat regional airliner called the ES-19 in favor of a larger 30-seat model called the ES-30. To get the desired increased payload and range, the company will use a hybrid-electric propulsion system.