The Air Force has experimented with electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft under the Agility Prime program in recent years.

House lawmakers want the Air Force to start seriously thinking about how to make its electric “flying car” concept a reality.

A subcommittee’s section of the House Armed Services Committee’s proposed fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act would require the Air Force and the Pentagon to set up a working group dedicated to transitioning its Agility Prime concept into programs that can be used operationally.

Agility Prime is a program run by AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm, to work with industry to develop and demonstrate electric vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft, or VTOLs. The Air Force issued contracts to more than a dozen companies beginning in 2020 to create these electric air taxis.

The service has already experimented with electric aircraft created by Joby Aviation and Beta Technologies to transport spare parts or cargo around bases, and conducted a simulated casualty evacuation exercise with Beta’s Alia — this one a conventional takeoff-and-landing aircraft — earlier this year.

The Air Force has also floated the idea of using Agility Prime-derived technology to conduct combat rescue operations, since electric aircraft can operate much more quietly than traditional fuel-powered helicopters.

Shanghai-based eVTOL aircraft developer Volant has secured almost 100 million yuan ($14.1 million) in a Series A+ funding round, less than two months after closing its Series A round.

Volant raised the Series A+ round to fund the trial flights of its pipeline products and the development of new models, with a focus on commercial passenger eVTOL aircraft that can accommodate up to five people, including the pilot.

XPeng’s eVTOL arm, AeroHT, announced its latest milestone today in a quest to achieve commercial operations of its all-electric “flying cars” in China. The company has successfully received design certification from the powers that be for its air module vehicle, codenamed X3-F, bringing the technology one step closer to flight certification and customer deliveries.

AeroHT is an affiliate of XPeng Inc., which is majority owned by the company and its founder, He Xiaopeng, and specializes in developing electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles. Since beginning operations over a decade ago, AeroHT has conducted tens of thousands of safe flights, collecting data to develop safe, domestic electric aircraft for commercial…

Japanese “flying car” developer SkyDrive has started building the first prototype of its three-seat SD-05 eVTOL aircraft. On March 7, the company announced it has started assembling the first parts in a joint operation with automotive manufacturer Suzuki Motor Corporation, through a subsidiary called Sky Works. Suzuki is providing space at its factory in Iwata City in Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture and according to SkyDrive, the site will have the capacity to assemble up to 100 aircraft per year.

“This facility allows us to produce high-quality eVTOLs efficiently and effectively, ensuring we meet the needs of our customers,” said Sky Works president Nobuo Kishi.

SkyDrive aims to achieve provisional airworthiness approval for the SD-05 aircraft in time for the 2025 Osaka World Expo, where it plans to conduct public flight demonstrations. The company is not disclosing initial production rates or the number of prototypes it aims to manufacture before certification. A SkyDrive spokesperson told AIN that “our initial focus is to build an aircraft for Expo in order to acquire an appropriate authorization/permit to fly.”

Pre-orders for a “flying car” have soared in recent months leading industry experts to question how close we are to small passenger vehicle flight. Alef Aeronautics, a company backed by Space-X, specialising in the production of flying cars, has achieved 2,850 pre-orders for its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle. The firm is backed by Tesla investor and venture capitalist Tim Draper, which has helped draw attention. Based in San Mateo, California, Alef Aeronautics is allowing customers to pre-order its two-seater flying car, the Alef Model A, online with a $150 deposit. Customers are allowed to withdraw the deposit at any time to cancel the pre-order.

The car is expected to be priced at around $300,000 when it becomes commercially available, which gives the company an order value of over $850 million to date. Jim Dukhovny, Alef’s CEO, stated: “As of today we have a little bit more than 2,850 pre-orders with deposits down, which makes it the bestselling aircraft in history, more than Boeing, Airbus, Joby Aviation and most of the eVTOLs combined.”

One month after securing a fresh seed round worth $15 million, personal eVTOL developer Jetson has achieved certification for flights…

Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp and ‘flying car’ firm SkyDrive Inc said on Tuesday they have signed a deal to team up in research, development and marketing of electric, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

From “Back to the Future” to “The Jetsons,” when pop culture imagines the future, it often includes flying cars. But what if a more realistic future instead involves mainly bikes and public transit?

It can fly at a speed of 100 to 120 kilometres per hour and can carry two passengers at the same time, with a maximum flight time of 60 minutes at a maximum height of 3,000 feet.