The global mainstream eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft) companies are actively promoting the implementation of low altitude economy from airworthiness certification to landing.
Recently, overseas listed eVTOL companies have successively disclosed their revenue performance for the fiscal year 2023 and provided clear timelines for their airworthiness progress and commercial planning. From this, we can indirectly see the current operational competition status of top domestic and foreign manufacturers.
Overall, there is not much difference in airworthiness approval and commercial processes both domestically and internationally, and the differences may come from factors such as company positioning and supply chain collaboration methods.
China is actively promoting the certification of airworthiness in three stages. Recently, the EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft system under Yihang Intelligence was awarded a production license (PC) on April 7th, which is the first production license in the global eVTOL industry. After obtaining the Type Certificate (TC) and Standard Airworthiness Certificate (AC) successively, EH216-S marked the first stage of large-scale production for this model.
21st Century Business Herald reporter found that American listed company Joby is widely recognized as an industry leader. In 2023, the company experienced significant year-on-year losses, which is related to the company's active promotion of airworthiness certification. The model certification process also means significant financial expenses.
In addition to being an aircraft manufacturer, Joby also plans to independently operate her own air taxi service. In addition to continuously promoting airworthiness certification work, the company has been accelerating the construction of air related infrastructure since the beginning of this year, typical of which is multi-party cooperation to create charging pile facilities.
The global layout of the industry is also accelerating. Leading domestic eVTOL companies are actively promoting airworthiness and delivery landing in overseas markets. Similarly, leading overseas companies such as Lilium also plan to establish a Chinese headquarters in Shenzhen and have reached an aircraft procurement agreement with Shenzhen Eastern Airlines.
Airworthiness race
The global airworthiness certification work for eVTOL seems to be accelerating.
In February of this year, Joby announced the completion of the third phase of the five stages of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification process, marking the world's first eVTOL manufacturer to reach this stage.
It is reported that in the third stage, Joby submitted a certification plan (ASCP) covering approximately a dozen specific areas, covering the software and hardware involved in each of the company's five eVTOL systems, including flight control, energy storage and distribution systems, and propulsion systems; It also includes a detailed plan for aircraft network security and system security. The company is currently moving towards the fourth stage of certification process.
However, due to Joby's adoption of the tiltrotor technology route, this technology is widely recognized as having a longer initial research and development cycle, so its progress has received much attention.
On March 22nd, Fengfei Aviation Technology independently developed the V2000CG unmanned aerial vehicle system, which obtained the Type Certificate (TC) issued by the East China Regional Administration of Civil Aviation of China. This is the world's first eVTOL with a tonnage or above that has passed the Type Certificate.
Due to the early advancement of the overall process, Yihang has already taken the lead in obtaining the three certificates.
As an emerging phenomenon, there is currently no unified standard for airworthiness certification of eVTOL aircraft worldwide. Previously, the United States had developed a version of the standard, but subsequent modifications delayed Joby's certification process; The domestic promotion of driving eVTOL adopts a case by case approach.
In March 2024, the US FAA announced the official airworthiness guidelines for Joby's eVTOL aircraft model JAS4-1, which will take effect from April 8, 2024. Huatai Securities believes that this is the first eVTOL airworthiness standard officially issued and implemented by FAA, indicating that the airworthiness approval standards for JAS4-1 have been determined and will enter the formal airworthiness approval process in the future.
The institution believes that due to the long cycle from development to obtaining airworthiness certificates, aircraft that obtain airworthiness certificates first have a strong first mover advantage. Whether they can obtain airworthiness certificates as soon as possible depends not only on the technology and production level of the aircraft development and production enterprise, but also on the airworthiness certification ability of low altitude aircraft.
At the end of March, the Civil Aviation Administration of China stated in a public exchange that the next step would be to accelerate the construction of relevant infrastructure, explore innovative drone airworthiness certification models, and iteratively upgrade the safety supervision system for low altitude flight.
Accelerate collaboration
The current development background of eVTOL companies is different, and their starting methods and future directions will also vary.
Joby has a clear industrial synergy figure on her body. During the IPO period in 2021, according to information disclosed by the company, Toyota Motor Company had already invested nearly $400 million in Joby, making it the company's largest external investor. In addition to financial investment, Toyota engineers work together with Joby every day in collaborative projects, such as participating in factory planning and layout, manufacturing process development, and manufacturability design.
Before going public, Joby also collaborated with Uber and acquired the latter's Elevate business, aiming to strengthen software level work such as making higher fidelity decisions on infrastructure site selection, demand simulation, and multimodal operations.
Due to Joby's further positioning, she appears to be more proactive in building infrastructure. In January of this year alone, it has signed multiple cooperation agreements to promote the construction of air traffic related infrastructure. On January 17th, we will collaborate with our partners to build electricity infrastructure in New York and Southern California; On January 23rd, we collaborated with Helo Holdings, Inc. to install the first airborne taxi charger in New York City.
Although domestic eVTOL companies may not necessarily need to follow a path similar to Joby, it is evident that improving infrastructure is currently a particularly important step.
According to statistics from 21st Century Business Herald reporters, in 2023 alone, top domestic eVTOL companies have achieved over a hundred order signings. But the challenge to face is that external infrastructure still needs to be gradually improved.
Ma Tianqi, an industrial analyst at Toubao Research Institute, told 21st Century Business Herald reporters that in order to achieve rapid development of eVTOL in China, there are still challenges in technology, regulation, and market demand.
Specifically, eVTOL technology is still in its early stages of development, particularly in terms of safety, range, charging facilities, and other challenges. Regulatory policies include aviation safety supervision, flight rules, airspace management, etc. The airworthiness certification for products such as the Volvo AE200, Volvo AE25, Time E20, and Fengfei Kerry Gull has already begun, but it still needs time to gradually improve.
In addition, consumer acceptance of this new type of transportation requires time to cultivate, and consumers will consider economic issues, that is, balancing the time cost reduction of eVTOL with operating costs.