The world's first

For eVTOL, the main players at home and abroad are two categories, namely domestic and foreign start-up companies and domestic and foreign related industry giants.
Domestic leading startups include Volvo Airlines, Yihang Intelligence, and others. Most of the companies were established between 2020 and 2021, 4-5 years later than abroad, but Yihang Intelligence was established earlier in 2014. Unicorn companies in the field of flying cars abroad were generally established earlier, mostly from 2014 to 2015. Among the relevant industry giants, domestic companies such as Geely Group, DJI Technology, and Xiaopeng Automobile have all intervened.
In terms of "Flying Car" eVTOL, although there are currently no relatively pure listed companies in the domestic capital market, listed companies such as Shanhe Intelligent, Shangluo Electronics, and Guangyang Co., Ltd., which involve the concept of "Flying Car" eVTOL, have seen their stock prices soar recently.

On October 10th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other departments released the "Outline for the Development of Green Aviation Manufacturing Industry (2023-2035)".
According to the outline, by 2025, electric navigation aircraft will be put into commercial application, and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) will achieve pilot operation; By 2035, new energy aircraft will become the mainstream of development. Accelerate the integration of eVTOL into the comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network, establish a unified air and ground intelligence management platform, create low altitude intelligence networking, and preliminarily form a safe, convenient, green, and economic urban air transportation system.
According to Morgan Stanley's forecast, the global urban air traffic market size will reach $1 trillion in 2024 and $9 trillion in 2050.
The Low Altitude Economic Development Report of China's Listed and New Third Board Listed Companies (2023) released by the National Low Altitude Economic Integration and Innovation Research Center shows that as of the end of 2022, there are a total of 38 listed companies and New Third Board listed companies in China engaged in low altitude economic related business, including 25 companies engaged in drone business and 13 companies engaged in drone business. In 2022, the total revenue from low altitude economic related businesses of 38 companies was 41.539.7 billion yuan, an increase of about 7% compared to 2021.
Director of the center, Ao Wanzhong, stated that the development of the low altitude economy industry is entering a period of rapid development. In the future, with the continuous improvement of space technology, air traffic control policies, and application scenarios, the low altitude economy will move from a vision stage to a large-scale use stage, and industrial development is in the ascendant.
From the perspective of business model, there are currently three main directions for eVTOL, namely: sales towards the C-end, and related companies such as Xiaopeng Huitian; For B-end sales, related companies such as Yihang Intelligence sell manned aircraft to scenic spots, and scenic spots provide air travel services to tourists; Provide capacity services, i.e. air taxi mode, such as point-to-point services within the city center (such as city center to airport) or point-to-point services in nearby cities.

In 2023, the Shenzhen Municipal Government explicitly stated in its government work report that it is necessary to build a low altitude economic center and create a civilian unmanned aerial aviation pilot zone.
In July 2023, Shenzhen Bao'an disclosed at its low altitude economic investment promotion conference that Shenzhen is vigorously expanding its low altitude economic application scenarios, planning to open the country's first commercial eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Vehicle) route and gradually promoting it to multiple scenarios such as urban travel, air travel, and intercity transportation.
Among them, Fengfei Airlines plans to open the country's first eVTOL route in October 2023. At that time, the manned aircraft will take off from Guangguang in Bao'an Bay Area of Shenzhen, arrive at Xiangzhou, Zhuhai, fall behind the sunset, and then fly back to Guangguang in Shenzhen Bay Area, with a one-way flight time of 15 minutes and a total flight time of 30 minutes, with a round-trip distance of over 80 kilometers.
On September 29th, Yihang Intelligent announced that it had delivered 5 EH216-S autonomous aircraft to its new client Shenzhen Boling Holdings Group Co., Ltd., as part of Boling's plan to purchase 100 EH216-S aircraft from Yihang. This is the first step of Yihang Intelligent's business plan to launch air travel and sightseeing experience services in Shenzhen.
After obtaining the EH216-S model qualification certification issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the first batch of delivered EH216-S autonomous flight vehicles will be used for the normalized flight operation of Yihang Intelligent's first urban air traffic (UAM) operation demonstration center in Happy Harbor, Bao'an District, Shenzhen.
According to the company's disclosure, Boling plans to collaborate with Yihang Intelligent to become a long-term operator of Shenzhen Autonomous Aircraft (AAV), and use its purchased EH216-S autonomous aircraft to launch services such as aerial sightseeing and experiential flight, further expanding Shenzhen's urban air traffic (UAM) strategic layout.
According to the plan of the Bao'an District Government of Shenzhen, a batch of application scenarios will be created around logistics distribution, urban air traffic, tourism and entertainment, opening more than 50 unmanned aerial vehicle routes, and grid layout of more than 100 low altitude aircraft takeoff and landing platforms.