Flying Vehicle Introduced by Airbus; Electric 4-Seater

The four-seat CityAirbus NextGen vehicle has eight propellers and a wingspan of 39 feet

Chuck Martin, Editorial Director AI & IoT

March 8, 2024

2 Min Read
Airbus' four-seat CityAirbus NextGen vehicle has eight propellers and a wingspan of 39 feet
Airbus

Airbus introduced its prototype eVTOL (electric vertical and takeoff) vehicle this week, in advance of planned test flights later in the year.

The fixed-wing electric aerial vehicle (EAV) has a 50-mile range and cruise of 75 mph.

The four-seat CityAirbus NextGen vehicle has eight propellers with a wingspan of 39 feet.

“Rolling out CityAirbus NextGen for the very first time is an important and very real step that we are taking towards advanced air mobility and our future product and market,” said Balkiz Sarihan, head of urban air mobility at Airbus. 

The EAV is designed for locations in urban and suburban environments.

Airbus has been working on developing the vehicle for some time and had used two eVTOL demonstrators as part of the process. 

While the EAV has an operational automated flight mode, it will first be piloted to guide the vehicle as the urban air mobility market evolves.

The prototypes were designed to fly remotely.

EHang vehicles in China are flown pilotless and Boeing subsidiary Wisk is taking a pilotless EAV approach. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has yet to weigh in on the coming trend of automatically flown EAVs.

The CityAirbus introduction coincided with the opening of the CityAirbus test center in Donauwörth, Germany. 

Related:Airbus Flying Taxi Gets Single-Stick Pilot Control

The center is planned to test systems for EAVs and is Airbus’ long-term investment in advanced air mobility (AAM).

Airbus recently signed a partnership agreement with aviation company LCI  to develop partnership scenarios and business models strategy, commercialization and financing.

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About the Author

Chuck Martin

Editorial Director AI & IoT

Chuck Martin, author of "Flying Vehicles," New York Times Business Bestselling author and futurist, is Editorial Director at Informa Tech, home of AI Business, IoT World Today and Enter Quantum. Martin has been a leader in emerging digital technologies for more than two decades. He is considered one of the foremost emerging technology experts in the world and his latest book title "Flying Vehicles" (The Emergence of Personal Air Travel, Flying Cars, and Air Taxis) followed "Digital Transformation 3.0" (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things).  He hosts a worldwide podcast titled “The Voices of the Internet of Things with Chuck Martin,” where he converses with top executives from the companies driving the adoption of emerging technology.

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