EHang Opens New European Center for Urban Air Mobility Focused on Autonomous eVTOL Aircraft

Let's hang with the Ehang

Another important one from my backlog, Ehang.

a slick looking eVTOL they’ve got here. or flying car. however you want to say it.

Let’s talk about Ehang. Compared to traditional passenger-carrying aerial vehicles, EHang’s passenger-carrying electric unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAV”)
adhere to three major design concepts of full backup safety design, unmanned operation, and centralized management enabled by the intelligent command and control center. This safe, eco-friendly, and intelligent passenger-carrying electric vertical takeoff and landing UAV can provide short-to-medium distance low-altitude mobility solutions for the future of smart transportation. Ok in a nutshell that’s basically every eVTOL ever, but these guys have been doing it for awhile.

does look a little tippy, but it works for me

EHang revealed the EHang 184 at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2016, marking it as the first Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) designed to carry passengers. They had some grand plans in 2017 to initiate a self-flying taxi service in Dubai through a partnership with the city's Road & Transportation Agency, unfortunately the project did not come to fruition. It’s funny how you hear these announcements (I remember this one from 2017, and sometimes, they just don’t happen. And you never hear about it not happening until way later, if at all)

EHang has collaborated with the Institute for Autonomous Systems in Nevada, testing an AAV taxi service with the capability of transporting one person for a duration of up to 23 minutes using the EHang 184 model.

So as of November 1st, 2023 - EHang has now opened its first European UAM Center in Spain. This center is based at the Lleida–Alguaire International Airport and is a European first for drones that can take off and land vertically without a pilot (eVTOL). It's a global model for how these aircraft can work smoothly with existing airport systems, air traffic control, and technology. In simplified terms, they are sneaking into an airport and trying this stuff out to see if it messes with the regular planes and other aircraft.

The center started as part of a deal with Aeroports de Catalunya to work together on UAM. It puts Europe in a leading position in the field of Advanced Air Mobility.

On October 13th, 2023, the Civil Aviation Administration of China gave EHang's EH216-S drone a Type Certificate (TC), which means it's officially safe to fly and can be used for commercial flights with passengers in China. This is a big step forward for eVTOLS and flying car technology in general - we’ll stay on top of this one. Way to go, Ehang. We’ll hang with you anytime.

Link: https://www.ehang.com/article/