AAV technology platform EHang has unveiled the VT-30, a new type of electric passenger-grade AAV and the first in EHang's product line that is designed for inter-city transportation. With a hybrid structure, VT-30 is expected to travel a distance of up to 300 km with a flight time of up to 100 minutes and is designed as a safe, convenient, efficient, eco-friendly and intelligent air mobility solution for inter-city travel. As EHang's long-range flagship product, the VT-30 will complement its EH216, a product focusing on intra-city air mobility, to further expand the air transportation network and improve the future UAM ecosystem.

The VT-30 has a streamlined fuselage with a combined lifting rudder surface at the tail. Equipped with eight propellers on both sides, it has a pair of fixed wings and a propeller at the rear, designed to achieve a maximum balance of hybrid lift and push. The design enables VT-30 to enjoy the advantage of both vertical and taxi takeoff/landing modes, while satisfying the need for longer distance and flight time. Unlike conventional fixed wing aircraft, it saves the runway for takeoff and landing. Moreover, the tri-redundancy fly-by-wire control system can be flexibly altered into multiple modes, implying a much higher safety level for the aircraft.

The VT-30 is geared towards inter-city travels among city clusters, such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Rim, as it is able to carry two passengers from one city to another. The VT-30 boasts the merits of eco-friendliness, zero emissions and low noise, aligned with EHang's principle of green travel. Compared with conventional inter-city transportation modes, the VT-30 is expected to provide more efficient, environmentally friendly and low cost solutions to urban dwellers as well as expanding the capacity of existing UAM services.

So far, the VT-30 has conducted vertical takeoff and landing and power system tests. Moving forward, EHang will continue to conduct various tests and optimisations under different environment conditions, while continuously improving AAV safety and stability, with the goal of accelerating long-distance AAVs to be used in various scenarios such as air commuting, aerial sightseeing and aerial logistics.

“Our passenger-grade AAV EH216 is already fully equipped to travel in the cities with its lightweight and streamlined structure, and the launch of the VT-30 provides a powerful complement to the inter-city air traffic network by meeting the needs to cover longer distances,” says EHang founder, chairman and CEO Huazhi Hu. “Moving forward, these two product series will be used as core development for a service-oriented operations strategy to improve the safety, durability and capacity for carrying both passengers and goods. We will work continuously to obtain regulatory certification for our various AAV products, including the VT-30, and provide more convenient and efficient public urban air mobility operational services.”