China’s EHang obtained the world’s first “Type Certificate” for an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft at the end of 2023.
About an hour’s drive from the company’s headquarters in Guangzhou, China, sits the test site for EHang’s autonomous aircraft.
Parked on the tarmac during CNBC’s visit was the company’s fully autonomous two-seater air taxi.
“This is our EH216 model, positioned for short-distance urban transportation or sightseeing.” said Wang Dong, Vice President of Technology R&D at EHang. His interview on “CNBC Tech: The Edge” has been translated from Mandarin into English.
In October 2023, EHang announced that the EH216-S AAV had received a “type certificate” from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (equivalent to the FAA)—Wang said it was the world’s first certification.
“The operation is fully automated, its dispatch system runs on a server, so its routes are automatically loaded and then it flies a fully automated route.”
The overseas price of the aircraft is US$410,000, and the domestic price has been reduced to RMB 2.39 million, approximately US$330,000.
“We also have a larger aircraft for transportation between cities. Because of this aircraft, we also need to establish a vertical take-off and landing flying site between cities,” Wang said.
EHang plans to start commercial operations in China before the end of the year.
Click on the video above to visit EH216 and watch its test flight.
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