While Beta Technologies works to build out its network of charging stations throughout the U.S., the company’s all-electric Alia 250 eVTOL aircraft has been flying across the country. The Vermont-based eVTOL developer sent its Alia aircraft on a five-day journey across the eastern half of the country, making seven stops in four states to recharge as it traveled from New York to Kentucky.

Reliable Robotics and its new Europe-based partner ASL Aviation Holdings plan to select a twin-turboprop aircraft to convert for remotely-operated freight services under supplemental type certificates. They will engage with prospective airline customers for the technology and also with international air safety regulators, such as EASA, building on the work Reliable Robotics is already doing with the FAA.

Air New Zealand, which recently announced its ambition to introduce zero-emissions flights in New Zealand by 2026, has selected four major partners for the new program called Mission Next Generation Aircraft. The demonstration partners include Eviation, Beta Technologies, VoltAero, and Cranfield Aerospace—all companies working on electric, hybrid, or hydrogen-powered aircraft with the aim of making aviation more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Sister companies Dante Aeronautical and Dovetail Electric Aviation are raising capital to support plans to convert aircraft such as the Caravan, King Air, Twin Otter, and C212 to electric propulsion with motors provided by MagniX. The partners, who also have plans to bring hydrogen fuel cell powertrains and a new 19-seat aircraft called the DAX-19 to market by the end of the 2020s, say they have received provisional orders from operators including Mint Air of South Korea and Rex Airlines in Australia.

The FAA has successfully completed a critical systems review for Joby Aviation’s eVTOL, bringing the aircraft one step closer to achieving type certification, the company announced on December 14. According to Joby, the FAA conducted an in-person, multi-day audit of Joby’s eVTOL at the company’s facilities in Marina, California, to complete the second of four systems reviews required for its type certification program. 

Italian aerospace components specialist Avio Aero is now involved in multiple European research and development projects aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from air transport. The Amber hybrid-electric technology demonstrator project has $34 million in European Commission funding for work in the next four years that will support wider efforts to bring a new or converted regional airliner to market.

For the past decade, dozens of start-ups have been raising billions of dollars to develop a new breed of aircraft tapping more sustainable electric propulsion and autonomous flight technology, with the promise of revolutionizing the way people and cargo get around. Although it is still very much a nascent industry, 2022 has proven to be a pivotal year for advanced air mobility, as vehicle manufacturers and regulators alike have taken some monumental steps toward making that dream a reality. All of the progress this year set the stage for a busy 2023 in terms of infrastructure, certification, and technological advancements.

Tier One Engineering is working with launch customer United Therapeutics to convert a Robinson R44 helicopter to electric propulsion using MagniX’s motors. United Therapeutics wants to use the aircraft to deliver organs, such as lungs, for transplant procedures. The company is attracted to the e-R44 because it will be much quieter than a piston-powered helicopter and will fly at a lower cost without emitting carbon. The Vertical Flight Society was invited to witness a recent demonstration flight in California and kindly shared video footage with FutureFlight, including interviews with Tier One president Glen Dromgoole and United Therapeutics CEO Martine Rothblatt.

The main focus of Paragon VTOL Aerospace's attention now seems to be an eight-passenger, hybrid-electric eVTOL aircraft called the Soar, after a change of plan in mid-2021 away from the earlier T21 Raptor design. The company also appears to have ambitions to produce a smaller all-electric model called the Dragonfly.