The three dominant eVTOL designs
The Advanced Air Mobility arena has no shortage of new entrants, with the number of concepts listed on the eVTOL Aircraft Directory1 standing at 979 as of 11th March 2024. Innovative electric propulsion technologies have led to a diverse melting pot of airframe configurations, but three dominant designs are emerging. Excluding the Personal (109) and Electric Rotorcraft (70) categories, we are left with 800 concepts.
About a third (35%) are Multicopters, where thrusters are fixed in place.
Some (21%) are Lift + Cruise, with separate thrusters for vertical and forward flight.
Almost half (44%) are Vectored Thrust, tilting some or all thrusters for both vertical and forward flight.
Diversity is a good thing, as it shows the engineering freedom and ability to optimise aircraft for their use cases. However, we may find correlations associated with insurance and risk driven by the different design choices or operational characteristics. We will need to keep an eye on these trends as they begin to emerge across the industry.
Image sources: Volocopter, Beta Technologies, Vertical Aerospace
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