IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/osfxxx/m5sd9.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Aerial e-mobility perspective: Anticipated designs and operational capabilities of eVTOL urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft

Author

Listed:
  • Marzouk, Osama Ahmed

Abstract

We collected data about 13 urban air mobility (UAM) electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from 12 UAM companies in the world. While none of these models has yet reached a large-scale commercial operation (particularly as air taxis), some of them progressed well in the certification process and may have their UAM models widely operated within a few years. This article focuses on the variability in the configurations of these UAM eVTOL aircraft for aerial e-mobility; such as single-fixed-wing, tandem-tilt-wing, canard wing, fixed-rotor fixed-wing, full tilt-rotor, partial tilt-rotor, V-shaped tail, tailless, twin tail, conventional tail assembly, distributed propulsion, multicopter, rear forward thrust propeller, ducted fans, and a hybrid airplane-helicopter design. The 13 UAM eVTOL aircraft covered here are: (1) EH216-S (by EHang), (2) VoloCity (by Volocopter), (3) Lilium Jet (by Lilium), (4) VoloRegion (by Volocopter), (5) CityAirbus NextGen (by Airbus), (6) Passenger Air Vehicle - PAV (by Boeing), (7) S-A2 (by Hyundai), (8) Joby (by Joby Aviation), (9) VX4 (by Vertical Aerospace Group), (10) Midnight (by Archer Aviation), (11) Eve (by Eve Air Mobility), (12) Jaunt (by Jaunt Air Mobility), and (13) Generation 6 (by Wisk Aero). Out of these 13 UAM eVTOL aircraft models for aerial e-mobility and/or air taxis, we found that 11 models utilize a wing configuration, while only two use a wingless multirotor concept (as in hobbyist drones). A fixed-wing design is associated with a faster travel speed, at the expense of added restrictions on maneuvering and low-speed travel (or hovering). Six models are intended to have an onboard human pilot, while the remaining seven models are designed to be pilotless. One model demonstrated the ability to use hydrogen as a clean source of energy through a fuel cell system.

Suggested Citation

  • Marzouk, Osama Ahmed, 2025. "Aerial e-mobility perspective: Anticipated designs and operational capabilities of eVTOL urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft," OSF Preprints m5sd9, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:m5sd9
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/m5sd9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/6784c5e701f95079192f3cb8/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/m5sd9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shaheen, Susan PhD & Cohen, Adam & Farrar, Emily, 2018. "The Potential Societal Barriers of Urban Air Mobility (UAM)," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt7p69d2bg, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    2. Amela Ajanovic, 2015. "The future of electric vehicles: prospects and impediments," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(6), pages 521-536, November.
    3. Sajib Chakraborty & Hai-Nam Vu & Mohammed Mahedi Hasan & Dai-Duong Tran & Mohamed El Baghdadi & Omar Hegazy, 2019. "DC-DC Converter Topologies for Electric Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Fast Charging Stations: State of the Art and Future Trends," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-43, April.
    4. Sumiani Yusoff & Azizi Abu Bakar & Mohd Fadhli Rahmat Fakri & Aireen Zuriani Ahmad, 2021. "Sustainability initiative for a Malaysian university campus: living laboratories and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(9), pages 14046-14067, September.
    5. Straubinger, Anna & Rothfeld, Raoul & Shamiyeh, Michael & Büchter, Kai-Daniel & Kaiser, Jochen & Plötner, Kay Olaf, 2020. "An overview of current research and developments in urban air mobility – Setting the scene for UAM introduction," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Rajendran, Suchithra & Srinivas, Sharan, 2020. "Air taxi service for urban mobility: A critical review of recent developments, future challenges, and opportunities," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    7. Hadi Arbabi & Martin Mayfield & Philip McCann, 2019. "On the development logic of city-regions: inter- versus intra-city mobility in England and Wales," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 301-320, July.
    8. Wang, Yuanping & Ren, Hong & Dong, Liang & Park, Hung-Suck & Zhang, Yuepeng & Xu, Yanwei, 2019. "Smart solutions shape for sustainable low-carbon future: A review on smart cities and industrial parks in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 103-117.
    9. Al Haddad, Christelle & Chaniotakis, Emmanouil & Straubinger, Anna & Plötner, Kay & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2020. "Factors affecting the adoption and use of urban air mobility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 696-712.
    10. Akshat Kasliwal & Noah J. Furbush & James H. Gawron & James R. McBride & Timothy J. Wallington & Robert D. De Kleine & Hyung Chul Kim & Gregory A. Keoleian, 2019. "Role of flying cars in sustainable mobility," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marzouk, Osama A., 2025. "Aerial e-mobility perspective: Anticipated designs and operational capabilities of eVTOL urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft," OSF Preprints m5sd9_v1, Center for Open Science.
    2. Pons-Prats, Jordi & Živojinović, Tanja & Kuljanin, Jovana, 2022. "On the understanding of the current status of urban air mobility development and its future prospects: Commuting in a flying vehicle as a new paradigm," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    3. Lee, Changju & Bae, Bumjoon & Lee, Yu Lim & Pak, Tae-Young, 2023. "Societal acceptance of urban air mobility based on the technology adoption framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    4. Ehrhardt, Nick & Horlacher, Paul Herrmann & Straubinger, Anna, 2024. "Innovation strategies for non-existent markets - Profiting from urban air mobility," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    5. Husemann, Michael & Kirste, Ansgar & Stumpf, Eike, 2024. "Analysis of cost-efficient urban air mobility systems: Optimization of operational and configurational fleet decisions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 317(3), pages 678-695.
    6. Lv, Di & Zhang, Wei & Wang, Kai & Hao, Han & Yang, Ying, 2024. "Urban Aerial Mobility for airport shuttle service," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    7. Rath, Srushti & Chow, Joseph Y.J., 2022. "Air taxi skyport location problem with single-allocation choice-constrained elastic demand for airport access," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Kalakou, Sofia & Marques, Catarina & Prazeres, Duarte & Agouridas, Vassilis, 2023. "Citizens' attitudes towards technological innovations: The case of urban air mobility," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    9. Hwang, Ji-Hyon & Hong, Sungjo, 2023. "A study on the factors influencing the adoption of urban air mobility and the future demand: Using the stated preference survey for three UAM operational scenarios in South Korea," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Long, Qi & Ma, Jun & Jiang, Feifeng & Webster, Christopher John, 2023. "Demand analysis in urban air mobility: A literature review," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    11. Velaz-Acera, Néstor & Álvarez-García, Javier & Borge-Diez, David, 2023. "Economic and emission reduction benefits of the implementation of eVTOL aircraft with bi-directional flow as storage systems in islands and case study for Canary Islands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    12. Annitsa Koumoutsidi & Ioanna Pagoni & Amalia Polydoropoulou, 2022. "A New Mobility Era: Stakeholders’ Insights regarding Urban Air Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, March.
    13. Youssef Amry & Elhoussin Elbouchikhi & Franck Le Gall & Mounir Ghogho & Soumia El Hani, 2022. "Electric Vehicle Traction Drives and Charging Station Power Electronics: Current Status and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-30, August.
    14. Ariza-Montes, Antonio & Quan, Wei & Radic, Aleksandar & Koo, Bonhak & Kim, Jinkyung Jenny & Chua, Bee-Lia & Han, Heesup, 2023. "Understanding the behavioral intention to use urban air autonomous vehicles," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    15. Brunelli, Matteo & Ditta, Chiara Caterina & Postorino, Maria Nadia, 2023. "New infrastructures for Urban Air Mobility systems: A systematic review on vertiport location and capacity," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    16. Rajendran, Suchithra & Srinivas, Sharan & Grimshaw, Trenton, 2021. "Predicting demand for air taxi urban aviation services using machine learning algorithms," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    17. Kähler, Svantje T. & Abben, Thomas & Luna-Rodriguez, Aquiles & Tomat, Miriam & Jacobsen, Thomas, 2022. "An assessment of the acceptance and aesthetics of UAVs and helicopters through an experiment and a survey," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    18. Janotta, Frederica & Hogreve, Jens, 2024. "Ready for take-off? The dual role of affective and cognitive evaluations in the adoption of Urban Air Mobility services," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    19. Samadzad, Mahdi & Ansari, Fatemeh & Afshari Moez, Mohammad Amin, 2024. "Who will board urban air taxis? An analysis of advanced air mobility demand and value of travel time for business, airport access, and regional tourism trips in Iran," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    20. Jaeho Yoo & Yunseon Choe & Soo-i Rim, 2022. "Risk Perceptions Using Urban and Advanced Air Mobility (UAM/AAM) by Applying a Mixed Method Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:m5sd9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://osf.io/preprints/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.