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Company type | Public |
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NYSE: EVTL | |
Industry | Aerospace, Advanced Air Mobility |
Founded | 2016 |
Founder | Stephen Fitzpatrick |
Headquarters | Bristol, England, UK |
Products | eVTOL aircraft |
Number of employees | 330 (2022) [1] |
Website | www |
Vertical Aerospace Ltd. is an aerospace manufacturer based in Bristol, England. It designs and builds zero emission, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) electrically powered aircraft. [2]
The company was founded in 2016 by Stephen Fitzpatrick, an ex-Formula One team owner, and founder and CEO of OVO Energy. [3]
The company flew its first prototype aircraft – an electrically powered quadcopter that weighed 750 kg (1,650 lb), named VA-X1 [4] – in June 2018 at Cotswold Airport, Kemble, Gloucestershire. [5] [6] [7] The aircraft, which was unmanned and remotely controlled, is capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) [8] and has four electric engines, each inside a ducted fan. [9]
In 2019, the company became Honeywell's first eVTOL customer, buying their fly-by-wire aircraft control systems for a future Vertical Aerospace aircraft, the VA-X4. [10] Further in 2019 they launched their second aircraft, VA-X2, making them the first company in the world to release flight footage of an electric VTOL aircraft capable of carrying 250 kg (550 lb). [11] 2019 was also the year the company appointed its President, Michael Cervenka, former Head of Future Business Propositions at Rolls-Royce.
In April 2023, Tim Williams joined Vertical Aerospace. Later in 2020, the company announced the VX4, a significant departure from the company’s previous multicopter design. [12] They also established Vertical Advanced Engineering, in order to apply technologies and agile processes from F1 to the development of eVTOL aircraft. [13]
In January 2021, they joined a consortium of urban air mobility and aviation companies to work with the Civil Aviation Authority as part of its Future Air Mobility Regulatory Sandbox. The company announced that they would be partnering companies like Skyports Limited, Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, and the West of England Combined Authority. [14] [15]
Also in February 2021, the company announced it was partnering with Solvay S.A. for the development of the composite structure of its vehicle. [16] In March, the company announced it was partnering with Rolls-Royce for the development of its electrical power system. [17]
In May 2021, former Airbus CEO Urban Mobility, Eduardo Dominguez Puerta joined Vertical Aerospace as Chief Commercial Officer. In June 2021, it was announced that the company would merge with Broadstone Acquisition Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), founded by Hugh Osmond. [18] Additionally, the company announced that it would float on the NYSE. [19]
In June 2021, the company was exploring a flying taxi service as part of a partnership with Virgin Atlantic. [20] and American Airlines announced a pre-order of up to 250 aircraft with an option for an additional 100. [21]
The company originally stated a goal of commercial flight by 2022. [22] [23] [24] In its most recent announcements, it appears to be targeting 2024. [12]
In December 2021, the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) [25] following the SPAC merger with Broadstone Acquisition Corp under the ticker EVTL. [26]
In January 2022, the company appointed Avolon's Dómhnal Slattery as Vertical Chairman. [27] In the period between 2020 and 2022, under the leadership of Chief Engineer, Tim Williams, Vertical Aerospace successfully designed, built, and flew the VX-4 prototype aircraft. This achievement marked a historic moment in the aerospace industry, as it was the first of its kind – a new technology, electric-powered aircraft – to be created in the United Kingdom in living memory.
Vertical Aerospace says that the VX4 is a piloted, zero emissions electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle. They say the VX4 will have a range of over 100 miles (160.9 km) and capacity for 4 passengers, and a pilot, and be quieter than a helicopter. [28] The proposed aircraft is intended to operate in and out of cities and other confined locations.
It would rely on its fixed wing for lift during most of flight. This shift follows a broader move across the eVTOL industry towards wing-borne lift + cruise and vectored thrust concepts, due to the efficiency gains wing-borne lift offers during the cruise portion of flight. [29]
The aircraft accomplished its first takeoff and landing while tethered to the ground in September 2022. [30] The aircraft has orders from American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and AirAsia, among others. [30]
In July 2023, the VX4 successfully completed an unmanned test flight at Kemble Airport, Cotswold UK. The aircraft demonstrated its capabilities by lifting off, hovering, flying, and landing solely through the thrust generated by Vertical's proprietary battery packs. [31] The only prototype was damaged during uncrewed flight testing on 9 August 2023 at Cotswold Airport. The company attributed the accident to a fault with the propeller fitted, but said it was an older design that had since been replaced. [32] [33] [34]
In June 2021, the company teamed up with American Airlines, Avolon, Rolls-Royce, Honeywell and Microsoft's M12 as partners and investors. The partners and investors enable an expected path to certification in 2024, de-risk execution, allow for a lean cost structure, and production at scale. Other partners include GKN Aerospace and Solvay.
The company's partnership with American Airlines, Avolon, and Virgin Atlantic will see forward sales under pre-orders for up to 1,000 aircraft. [35]
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.
The Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig (TMR) was a pioneering vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft developed by Rolls-Royce in the 1950s. It has the distinction of being "the first jet-lift aircraft to fly anywhere in the world".
Avolon is an aircraft leasing company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. It was established in May 2010 by Dómhnal Slattery and a team from RBS Aviation Capital, including John Higgins, Tom Ashe, Andy Cronin, Simon Hanson, and Ed Riley. In December 2014, Avolon went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the ticker symbol AVOL, marking the largest listing of an Irish-founded company on the NYSE. In September 2015, Avolon received a cash offer from Bohai Leasing Co., an affiliated Chinese leasing and financial services company, to acquire 100% of Avolon's common shares. The acquisition by Bohai Leasing was completed in January 2016, leading to Avolon's delisting from the NYSE. In November 2018, ORIX Corporation, a Japanese financial institution, acquired a 30% stake in Avolon from its shareholder, Bohai Capital, which is part of the HNA Group.
Guangzhou EHang Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd is a company based in Guangzhou, China that develops and manufactures autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) and passenger AAVs which have entered service in China for aerial cinematography, photography, emergency response, and survey missions.
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is the use of small, highly automated aircraft to carry passengers or cargo at lower altitudes in urban and suburban areas which have been developed in response to traffic congestion. It usually refers to existing and emerging technologies such as traditional helicopters, vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft (VTOL), electrically propelled, vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft (eVTOL), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These aircraft are characterized by the use of multiple electric-powered rotors or fans for lift and propulsion, along with fly-by-wire systems to control them. Inventors have explored urban air mobility concepts since the early days of powered flight. However, advances in materials, computerized flight controls, batteries and electric motors improved innovation and designs beginning in the late 2010s. Most UAM proponents envision that the aircraft will be owned and operated by professional operators, as with taxis, rather than by private individuals.
Lilium GmbH is a German aerospace company which is the developer of the Lilium Jet, an electrically powered personal air vehicle capable of VTOL flight.
Bye Aerospace is an American aircraft manufacturer based in unincorporated Arapahoe County, Colorado. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of electric aircraft, including unmanned aircraft for geospatial role and light aircraft for the flight training role. The company was founded by George E. Bye, who remains the CEO.
Joby Aviation is a United States venture-backed aviation company, developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that it intends to operate as an air taxi service. Joby Aviation is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, and has offices in San Carlos, California; Marina, California; and Munich, Germany.
Volocopter GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Bruchsal and founded by Alexander Zosel and Stephan Wolf. The company specializes in the design of electric multirotor helicopters in the form of personal air vehicles, designed for air taxi use. The CEO is Dirk Hoke and chairman Stefan Klocke.
Beta Technologies, is a Burlington, Vermont-based aerospace manufacturer developing electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) and electric conventional take-off and landing (eCTOL) aircraft for the cargo, medical passenger, and military aviation industries. The company has also developed a network of chargers which can supply power to their aircraft and other electric vehicles. Training programs for future electric aircraft pilots and maintainers are also provided.
The Boeing Passenger Air Vehicle (PAV) is an American electrical powered autonomous personal air vehicle prototype developed by the Boeing NeXt division of Boeing with the assistance of Aurora Flight Sciences.
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An electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is a variety of VTOL aircraft that uses electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically. This technology came about thanks to major advances in electric propulsion and the emerging need for new aerial vehicles for urban air mobility that can enable greener and quieter flights. Electric and hybrid propulsion systems (EHPS) have also the potential of lowering the operating costs of aircraft.
The Wisk Cora is an American autonomous personal air vehicle prototype previously developed by the Kitty Hawk Corporation, and subsequently by Wisk Aero.
The Tecnam P-Volt is an Italian light electric aircraft that was under development by Tecnam in conjunction with Rolls-Royce.
Archer Aviation is a publicly traded company headquartered in San Jose, California, which is developing eVTOL aircraft.
Eve Air Mobility is a Brazilian subsidiary of Embraer which produces electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and urban air mobility infrastructure. The company was founded on 15 October 2020. EVE is a brand that was idealized by the innovation division of Embraer called EmbraerX.
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Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is an air transport system.
Skyports Drone Services is a British provider and operator of eVTOL drones for cargo delivery, survey and monitoring. The company became famous for using drones to carry Covid-19 samples and test kits in some parts of Argyll and Bute which has been described as a UK first. It also received UK Government funding for establishing service and training facility at Argyll and Bute Council-owned Oban Airport.