LONDON Reuters - The Israeli startup AIR unveiled its first easy to operate electric, vertical takeoff and landing eVTOL airplane which it aims to sell direct to consumers in the United States starting in 2024.
AIR has been working with the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority FAA for two years and anticipates to obtain certification by the end of 2023 for the AIR ONE, a two seater, weight 220 kg 2,138 lb eVTOL that will have a flight range of 110 miles 177 km Chief Executive Rani Plaut told Reuters.
AIR raised seed capital of under $10 million last year and has been conducting unmanned tests of its van. It is building prototype models and expects to sell its eVTOLs for around the same price as an expensive car, Plaut said, without providing more precise details.
An increasing number of investors and aviation companies are committed to the open but yet, yet to be-activated space for urban air mobility and the number of eVTOL startups have proliferated.
Air taxi firm Joby Aviation is going public via merger with a blank check company and Vertical Aerospace - which has pre-orders for up to 1,000 eVTOL aircraft with launch customers Avolon and American Airlines - via a merger with Broadstone Acquisition Corp.
Plaut said the difference with AIR is that it will be sold to consumers who can use its fly by intent software to fly without fully trained pilots.
The focus is entirely personal, he said. We're not talking about commercial flights, we're talking about people using it as they use cars. The United States has a lot of open airspace that makes it a suitable first market for the AIR ONE. Plaut said AIR expects demand could reach 15,000 vehicles a year.
AIR is raising additional funds and has not disclosed how much it will take to get through the FAA certification process, but is currently raising 12k?