The roads are packed — time to try hailing a flying taxi.

Have you ever played with a bamboo-copter? With a gentle rub of your palms, the tiny toy whirs into the sky, then slowly drifts back down. Its two wing-like blades are said to have inspired the design of helicopter rotors. Along the century-long journey of aerospace development, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft — prized for their ability to minimize or even eliminate dependence on runways — have become an important branch of the industry. Yet while these planes can lift off and touch down without a runway, operating them in urban environments remains a formidable challenge.

On October 13, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued the world's first type certificate (TC) for an unmanned passenger aerial vehicle system to EHang Holdings Limited. This means that its eVTOL aircraft, the EH216-S, has met the CAAC's airworthiness requirements for type design and possesses the safety capabilities for passenger operations. As an indispensable component of integrated three-dimensional transportation networks, eVTOL aircraft offer compact size, low noise, and safe, reliable operation — providing us with unprecedented three-dimensional mobility options and revolutionizing urban transportation. ZhenFund led EHang Holdings Limited's (NASDAQ: EH) angel round in 2014 and participated in subsequent rounds, supporting its mission to enable "everyone to enjoy safe, automated, and eco-friendly air mobility."

This time, we've invited He Tianxing, Vice President of EHang Holdings Limited. We'll start with a primer on the eVTOL industry and explore how eVTOL will transform our travel and daily lives. When will eVTOL become widespread? How difficult was obtaining the type certificate, and how does it differ from conventional aircraft certification? How do innovative products survive the market education phase? And how will eVTOL air traffic control work?

Guest

He Tianxing, Vice President of EHang Holdings Limited

Timeline

02:29 How eVTOL brings new possibilities to transportation and urban life

07:52 Who gets to experience eVTOL first

15:39 The airworthiness certification process is like gaokao, except we had to "write our own exam"

21:11 Even when you're the one setting the test, a perfect score isn't automatic

26:48 Now that we have the type certificate, what's next

30:42 Why aviation giants didn't get there first

34:49 How startups survive the market education phase

40:00 Small but complete: EHang's industrial design philosophy

46:44 Will low-altitude eVTOL flights face bird strikes

49:13 What infrastructure does a city need to be filled with eVTOL

Related Materials

Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL): eVTOL aircraft are a subset of VTOL aircraft that use electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically. This technology has emerged from major advances in electric propulsion (motors, batteries, fuel cells, electronic controllers) and from new demands in urban air mobility for novel aircraft capable of more environmentally friendly, quieter flight.

Type Certificate (TC): For aircraft manufacturers, three certificates are typically required to legally sell a designed and manufactured aircraft: the type certificate (TC), the production certificate (PC), and the airworthiness certificate (AC). The type certificate is issued by the CAAC to an applicant to indicate that the CAAC considers the aircraft type design submitted by that applicant to meet the applicable airworthiness standards.

Production

Post-production: Keyone Studio

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