eHang officially introduced the new VT-30 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle – a longer-range eVTOL plane. The Chinese company shared only small part of the information about the technology underpinning the lift-plus-cruise concept or the timescale for type certification.
The two-seat VT-30 has oval-shaped cabin with a single pusher propeller at the back for cruise flight, a fixed-wing with winglets, and eight sets of electric motors and vertical-lift propellers mounted on a pair of parallel booms connecting the wing to a bow-shaped tail with a lifting rudder surface. eHang hasn’t revealed anything about the all-electric propulsion system, which it claims will have a range of up to 300 km (187 miles) or a flying time of 100 minutes.
The fuselage is more streamlined than EH216 vehicle, which has a range of only 35 kilometers (22 miles). According to the corporation, the VT-30 will perform journeys between cities and different areas in China. No information about any completed longer flights or about the flight test program has been shared yet. eHang announced that the VT-30 and EH216 will be offered concurrently for inter- and intra-city passenger and freight services in China and other countries. While most other top eVTOL aircraft companies designed their vehicles to be able to transport at least three or four people, eHang is staying focused on only two-seats vehicles. eHang planning to launch a “100 Air Mobility Routes Initiative” in China. It plans to provide first services within the next 24 months, beginning with the EH216. The company has also stated that it plans to produce a smaller autonomous vehicle – VT-10. A team appointed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China is now being overset for the certification campaign of EH216.
EHang’s stock price on the Nasdaq stock exchange jumped to $22.53 suggesting a market valuation of $1.23 billion.