A new industry is on the cusp of being born, with a promise to revolutionise and decarbonise transport in traffic congested areas: Urban air mobility.
This week’s government unveiling of ‘The Future of Flight’ action plan sets out a vision for the near future where flying taxis could take off as soon as 2026.
An announcement on Monday from the Department of Transport said that drone technology could transform our skies and boost the UK economy by £45 billion by the end of the decade.
Flying taxis and routine emergency service drones should be a reality by 2028, the government said, with Aviation and Technology Minister Anthony Browne saying “cutting edge battery technology will revolutionise transport as we know it.”
The government’s plans are expected to breathe life into smaller aerodromes by setting out how they can operate as vertiports for electrical vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOLSs).
Hundreds of electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing – or flying cars - concepts have evolved to date, creating an ecosystem of investors, infrastructure companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), governments and power suppliers now competing in the race to capture market share and become the first partnership to successfully fly and power eVTOLs commercially.
You may be reluctant to use one, or you may be sceptical that they will change urban transportation, but the ingredients to the sector’s nascence have been years in the making and eVTOLS could be coming to a vertiport near you very soon.
However, challenges from regulatory to infrastructure are keeping all eVTOLs grounded for now.
While regulation is quickly evolving, what I’m seeing is that physical and grid infrastructure, and capability to manufacture eVTOLs will be more difficult to solve, but key to unlocking their long-term commercial viability.
First, let’s take a look at the biggest infrastructure challenges we see today for air mobility.
Even with the right regulations in place, the sector can only evolve if companies operating vertiports are able to select the right take-off and landing locations in the areas defined by high demand, which tend to be in urban environments and their periphery, with the obvious high traffic destinations being airports.
The second challenge is that the vertiport sites also need to be situated in locations that can minimise the cost of delivering and operating a vertiport while turning around as many eVTOLs as possible.
Another challenge is the coordination of electric power supply with eVTOL demand requirements and integrating electric charging points on brownfield sites.
eVTOLs have larger size batteries than electric vehicles (EVs) and the business model for urban air mobility requires rapid turnaround while charging must be done within a 10–12-minute timeframe, requiring rapid charging equipment that is currently being developed.
Different OEMs have varying battery configurations some of which consist of multiple batteries which are larger and heavier design model compared to EVs. These differences in battery configuration allow for each OEM to target extended ranges between charging points. Thinking holistically about supplying power to eVTOLs in vertiport infrastructure that has never been developed before requires expertise in masterplanning, electrification and technology.
Which brings me to the only solution to air mobility’s infrastructure hurdles: integrating all this expertise across sectors, from design, construction, planning, grid infrastructure and electrification, regulation and technology.
AECOM is already developing easily accessible site selection models based on anticipated demand. Our eVTOLer app, utilizes publicly available demographic data to calculate the value of time saved by taking an eVTOL compared to other means of transportation in these demand hotspots.
Based on these site selection models, using and retrofitting existing infrastructure for the location of vertiports, such as atop multi-storey car parks or buildings that can or already support helipads, can propel the beginning of the commercially flying eVTOLs.
So, looking beyond regulatory approval which has been quickly evolving, air mobility is in need of integrated solutions in infrastructure that can bring investors, OEMs, power suppliers, and regulators together with a single goal: sustainably-powered vertical take-off flight.
The ability to provide cost sensitive, flexible vertiport infrastructure and overcoming grid capacity concerns in markets such as the UK, will enable the viability of travelling by flying car.
This week’s UK government announcement gives eVTOLs a flying start.
Beth Bernitt is a senior vice-president of the Fortune 500 group AECOM who have a big presence in the City of London
