Eve Air Mobility made its first appearance as an exhibitor at Verticon last month, and believes helicopter operators represent a promising market for the emerging eVTOL sector.
“The reason we have chosen to showcase and enter this segment formally through Verticon . . . is because we have a full mix of customers in our backlog,” Megha Bhatia, Eve’s chief commercial officer, told Vertical.
“Today we have airlines like United and Republic, but then we also have helicopter operators. We recently firmed an order with Revo, which is a Brazilian helicopter operator that conducts the urban air mobility mission that we’re looking to complete.”
The company sees these short urban flights as a key early market to serve.
“It’s being designed for dense urban operations, so, high volumes of passenger transport,” said Bhatia. “Helicopter operations have been limited [in these areas] due to noise curfews, for example, and we look to circumvent all of that. It’s green, 100% electric, so it’s sustainable. It’s quite efficient in its design, and it’s also got low noise. So with that, you can circumvent those limitations and be able to carry out more trips, which then makes it profitable for our operators.”
Eve has chosen a simple lift and cruise configuration for its eVTOL, she said, which “has a known certification path.”
The aircraft has eight rotors — two in front and two behind each wing — which lift the aircraft in vertical flight. These then fold in transition and a pusher propeller on the aircraft’s tail provides the propulsion for wingborne flight.
The aircraft is being designed to fly for 85 kilometers (50 miles) between charges, but Eve anticipates an average flight leg of around 25 to 30 kilometers (15 to 17 miles) — or about 12 to 15 minutes.
The eVTOL has capacity for four passengers plus a pilot, and Bhatia said the mock up on display at Verticon would be very close to the design of the aircraft the company expects to enter service.
“It has evolved over time, and that’s looking at our customer feedback,” she said, referencing the company’s stated order backlog of 2,700 aircraft. “For example, entry-into-service aircraft will not have the skids — they’ll have taxi wheels. That’s great for repositioning at the airport … [and is] an example of how we’ve continued to evolve it based on what we understand the mission and the use cases of our customers to be.”
A rapid flight test campaign
The company began as an offshoot of Embraer in 2017, before being publicly listed in 2021. However, Embraer still owns 73% of Eve.
“What that brings with it is the benefit and the privilege to be able to access Embraer’s resources, but also their talent and their technology,” said Bhatia.
Eve has now completed more than 35 remotely piloted flights with its full-scale engineering prototype, accumulating nearly 1.5 hours of flight time since its first flight in December 2025.
The company recently completed a demonstration flight at Embraer’s test facility in Gavião Peixoto, Brazil, in the presence of Brazilian authorities, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
At that point, the aircraft had reached an altitude of 140 feet (43 meters) above ground level (AGL), and performed maneuvers with simultaneous inputs across three axes.
Eve is targeting up to 300 flights this year with the non-conforming prototype, and hopes to begin the certification campaign with six conforming prototypes next year.
Bhatia said she anticipated “roughly a 12-month flight test campaign,” with the company aiming for entry into service by late 2027.
“We recognize it’s an accelerated timeline, but we’re feeling confident,” she said “We designed for certification from the ground up — we’ve carried out rigorous systems testing, [and] ground testing.”
The primary certification authority is Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), and Luiz Mauad, Eve’s vice president of customer services, said the company would be leaning on Embraer’s certification experience.
“Embraer has certified more than 25 aircraft in the last 30 years,” he said. “So the process is there, and we have a very nice relationship with ANAC, and ANAC has bilateral agreement with the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] and EASA [European Union Aviation Safety Agency].”
Eve hopes to achieve validation from the FAA, in particular, as quickly as possible following certification from ANAC, as the U.S. is, alongside Brazil, a primary market.
“If you look at our backlog today, over 50% of our customers are in the US,” said Bhatia. “Once we achieve ANAC, FAA and EASA [certification and validation] we’ll look to validate our TCs from there on globally.”
Eve has identified a site in Taubaté, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, for production of its eVTOL. The first phase of construction will see the facility able to produce 120 aircraft each year, with additional modules planned that will raise that to 200, and ultimately 480 units.
The initial ramp-up will grow with demand, said Bhatia.
“We’ve identified two customers that are firm for the first few delivery slots,” she said. “We’re looking, over the next couple years, to continue to confirm more orders with customers that will continue to build into that first modular capacity.”
A mixed fleet strategy
Addressing the scepticism from some in the helicopter industry as to how achievable the stated aims of the wider eVTOL sector are, Bhatia said Eve had received very positive feedback at Verticon.
“From our perspective, helicopter operators have received it really well,” she said. “We’ve got helicopter operators in our backlog, and the way they’re approaching it is that it’s complementary to their operations and complementary to their fleet. So, it’s a mixed fleet portfolio strategy.”
With no rotating parts, Eve says the eVTOL will have higher availability and lower maintenance costs than a helicopter. And with no turbine engine or hydraulic systems, it will also be cheaper to operate, the company claims.
The acquisition cost has not been disclosed, but Bhatia said it will reduce in time as the technology matures.
But developing the aircraft is just one of the challenges facing the nascent eVTOL industry. Mauad noted the wider ecosystem that must be developed, and said Eve is working on initiatives to help create the sector’s workforce, address air traffic management issues, and develop ground infrastructure.
Aftermarket service and operational support is another element the company is already considering. Backed by Embraer’s 55 years of aviation experience, Eve’s TechCare program aims to provide a full portfolio of services, from pilot training through technical solutions; maintenance, repair and overhaul; spare parts; and flight operations solutions.
“Everything is being developed inside Eve so the operators will be supported since day zero,” said Mauad. “It’s not [just] about the aircraft, we understand there’s a lot of things that we have to do in terms of ecosystem and aftermarket, and we are doing this.”
