Ours is a path to revolutionize the way we move. Driven to reimagine what daily life can be: quieter, sustainable, empowering us to venture further. No simple task, it’s a path requiring countless steps. So let’s begin at the start, and answer the questions: what is an eVTOL aircraft? And how might they shape our future?
At its core, an eVTOL aircraft is exactly as its name would imply. First, it’s an electric aircraft, relying on rechargeable batteries instead of a fuel-based internal combustion engine. Second, an eVTOL aircraft ascends and descends vertically allowing it to operate within smaller spaces in an urban landscape relative to a conventional airplane that requires a full runway to takeoff and land. The goal of eVTOL aircraft is to establish Urban Air Mobility networks within large cities to provide sustainable solutions for chronic traffic problems - giving citizens the opportunity to fly above traffic and get to destinations in and around town much faster - and, ultimately, more safely.
From a safety perspective, our eVTOL aircraft share a lot in common with airplanes, namely they’ll be flown by professional pilots, and they have multiple redundancies built into their design. However, our eVTOL aircraft’s redundancies go further than a traditional plane, by combining 12 electric motors, 6 independent battery packs and the latest fly-by-wire technology. We are also working closely with the FAA to certify our aircraft to the highest standards of safety before we bring our eVTOL to market. The result is an aircraft that is designed to have zero points of catastrophic failure that will be certified to the same standard as existing commercial aircraft - making Archer’s eVTOL aircraft among the safest that will ever take flight. And with significantly more motors than traditional aircraft, one may be concerned with how much louder it would be. It’s a valid concern that we’ve spent a lot of energy on addressing with our eVTOL aircraft design. Because of this emphasis on sound mitigation during our design process, Archer’s eVTOL aircraft will be remarkably quiet, operating at lower decibel levels when flying overhead than airplanes, helicopters, and cars. Once an eVTOL aircraft reaches cruising altitude, a person on the ground would be hard pressed to differentiate the humming overhead from the rumble of the surface streets surrounding them.
Not only do eVTOL aircraft allow us a new dimension in travel, they do so faster than a car, to a wider range of destinations than a plane and do so powered by electricity. We believe this combination will allow for operational scale and efficiency that makes short-range air travel fast, affordable, and eco-friendly in a way never before experienced. Imagine flying over rush hour traffic on a weekend getaway; arriving at your destination in 15 minutes instead of the hour, or more, you would have spent on the highway.
Flying taxis may seem like science fiction, but urban air mobility (UAM) is closer than you might think. Archer is already moving through the certification process with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its first eVTOL aircraft, working with cities to develop guidelines for UAM infrastructure, and building out Prime RadiantTM, a proprietary system that’s helping us make informed decisions about creating a UAM network aimed at maximizing the benefit of eVTOL aircraft.
We aren’t building a flying car, a helicopter, or a small jet. This is not the next iteration. It’s the next era, taking all that we’ve learned from where we’ve been, and realizing the vision of where we want to go. A future in which you can move more freely, efficiently and safely. We can’t wait to share the eVTOL aircraft era with you.
