Headquartered in Guangzhou, China, with locations in Europe and Latin America, EHang is one of the first eVTOL companies in the world to seek type certification (TC) for an autonomous aircraft, the EH216-S.
The company claims it is close to receiving TC with Chinese aviation authorities for its two-seat eVTOL, designed to fly at a maximum speed of 130 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour) and a range of 30 kilometers (20 miles) while carrying a maximum payload of 220 kilograms (485 pounds).
EHang announced in August that it has achieved its last certification milestones. These include the various tests and flights required in the last phase of demonstration and verification of compliance, including the definitive TC flight test required by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Recognizing this achievement, EHang founder, chair and CEO Huazhi Hu expressed gratitude to the CAAC review team and his own airworthiness certification team for their efforts and collaboration.
As to how many days, weeks or perhaps months remain before the EH216-S achieves TC, EHang public relations manager Zoe Li could only say in late September that it’s expected “soon.”
Achievements and challenges
At the same point in August, trial operation of EHang’s unmanned aircraft cloud system achieved CAAC approval.
On Sept. 20, EHang announced it is investing in Shenzhen Inx Technology, a Chinese solid-state lithium metal battery tech firm, along with a plan to cooperate with Inx on the research and development (R&D) and production of Inx 200-megawatt hour batteries for EHang’s aircraft.
In July, EHang entered into share subscription agreements for a total of US$23 million private placement with investors led by Lee Soo Man, a renowned South Korean music producer who founded K-pop and SM Entertainment.
The EH216-S has completed many trial flights in different parts of the world, such as medical-related flights in Belgium, island-to-island hops in Japan, and comparison test flights against another eVTOL in Israel in June.
EHang submitted its TC application in early 2021, and stated in August that “throughout this journey, we have overcome various challenges … ranging from battery, environment, material, strength, electronics, software and data link to ground control station.”
This has meant taking various approaches, Li said, including multi-angle demonstrations, rigorous testing and continuous optimizations. No further details are available.
Commercialization plans
EHang plans to be a “UAM platform operator” with an integrated business model.
“We plan to drive our revenue up, relying on eVTOL sales and UAM operational services,” Li explained. “On the sales side, in addition to the orders already delivered to early customers for their testing, trial flights and demonstration activities, we have an ample order pipeline in China and pre-orders overseas.”
By late September, the EH216-S domestic order had exceeded over 100 units. “And overseas pre-orders exceeded 1,200 units of EH216 series and VT-30,” Li said. “The growing market demand has formed a solid foundation that strengthens our confidence for future revenue growth. Our initial target market will be focusing on the low-altitude tourism market. We will continue to team up with tourism operators and partners for operations to provide aerial sightseeing, flight experiencing, etc.”
EHang has already been preparing for commercial operations of the EH216-S for quite some time.
“Under the CAAC’s guidance, we have been taking a lead in carrying out trial operations while conducting TC,” Li reported. “We’ve developed a total of 20 trial operation sites across 18 cities in China by the end of July this year. More than 9,300 safety-secured operational trial flights for low-altitude tourism and aerial sightseeing have been conducted by the EH216-S at these sites. During this process, we have cultivated a professional and well-trained AAV operation team, developed a digital platform for AAV operation management and services, and accumulated rich and feasible trial operation experience which may be easily replicated to other operation spots.”
She added that with this groundwork firmly in place, “we are well-positioned to seamlessly transition from trial operations to commercial services post the certification for the EH216-S. This transition will enable us to offer aerial sightseeing and flight experience services, generating recurring revenues.”
Support for rollout
According to EHang, in recent years, the State Council of China has introduced a series of policies to local governments to support the development of eVTOL aircraft activity, known as the low-altitude economy.
EHang has gained recognition from multiple city governments in promoting the expansion and implementation of urban air mobility (UAM) applications.
For example, in July 2023, EHang formed a partnership with the Bao’an District Government of Shenzhen City to jointly formulate UAM use cases and systems, create routes and develop Shenzhen as a demonstration city for national low-altitude economy activities.
Bao’an will provide comprehensive support for EH216-S procurement, financial leasing, infrastructure construction and operation in the area. For its part, EHang will establish an EH216-S assembly and delivery center, an R&D center, and a maintenance support center in the district.
Western markets
“We are dedicated to make safe, unmanned and eco-friendly air mobility accessible to everyone,” Li said. “Our flight footprints of EH216 series AAVs [autonomous aerial vehicles] have extended to 14 countries across Asia, Europe and Americas at this time, with a total of more than 40,000 demo and trial flights as of the end of August 2023. We have a local team based in Europe and are actively engaging with western customers and partners on market opportunities.”
As to whether the model will have to be modified in any way to adhere to western regulations, Li explained that EHang is addressing this through participation in a number of the European Union’s UAM demo projects. These include the European Union Air Mobility Urban-Large Experimental Demonstration (AMU-LED) project and the SBAS (EGNOS) Adoption in Multicopter VTOL Aircraft (SAMVA) project.
Through these activities, EHang is “playing a leading role and making breakthrough achievements to showcase our AAV technology and product advantages and make a contribution to the development of the evolving regulations,” Li said.
