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Regarding Low-Altitude Economy and eVTOL(electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft)

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Regarding low-altitude economy and eVTOL

Recently, four departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China, jointly issued the “Implementation Plan for Innovative Application of General Aviation Equipment (2024-2030)”, once again arousing the industry’s attention to the low-altitude economy.

The Popularity of Low-Altitude Economy

 Is the low-altitude economy really about to explode? What impact will it have on our lives?
 In today’s article, Xiao Zaojun will help everyone establish a basic understanding of the low-altitude economy through a question-and-answer method.

 What Exactly is a low-altitude Economy?

 The official definition of low-altitude economy refers to a comprehensive economic form mainly based on civil manned and unmanned aircraft, driven by low-altitude flight activities in multiple scenarios such as manned, cargo, and other operations, and radiated to drive the integrated development of related fields.
 To explain it in human terms, it is based on low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles and manned aircraft to transport people, goods, special operations, and all comprehensive industrial chains related to flight, manufacturing, maintenance (guarantee), and services. All can be classified as low-altitude economies.The economic scale of the low-altitude economy is extremely large.

Low-altitude, how high is it?

1000 meters. Specifically, the airspace within 1,000 meters vertically from the ground level directly below belongs to the low-altitude economic category.

What is eVTOL, Which is often Mentioned in the Low-altitude Economy?

eVTOL looks similar to VoLTE, but they are completely different. eVTOL is usually pronounced as “EVTOL,” and its full name is Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing. You can call it an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
In other words, it is an electric aircraft that does not require a runway and can take off and land vertically.
regarding low-altitude economy and eVTOL
Some people call it a “flying car”. In fact, it is more appropriately called an “electric helicopter
eVTOL is an important segment of the future air transportation industry and is currently the most popular track.
 Compared with traditional helicopters, manned eVTOL has the advantages of pure electric drive, low noise, high performance, low cost, easy maintenance, safety, and environmental friendliness. It is regarded as the core of a low-altitude economy.
you can find the list of some top eVTOL companies on Google or similar search engines. Some available eVTOL Chinese companies include EHang Intelligent, Shide Technology, Fengfei Airlines, Yufeng Future, etc.
eVTOL has the advantages of pure electric drive
On February 27, 2024, the world’s first eVTOL cross-sea and cross-city air route made its maiden flight. The eVTOL “Shengshilong” developed by Fengfei Aviation Technology successfully flew from the Shenzhen cruise home port to Zhuhai Zhuhai Port Terminal, shortening the one-way ground drive of 2.5 to 3 hours to 20 minutes. This is considered a milestone event for eVTOL.

eVTOL, What is The Flight Altitude?

Currently, those below 120 meters are consumer-grade drones, and the space between 100-300 meters is reserved for industrial application drones.
 Nowadays, many urban helicopters fly about 300 meters, and heavy helicopters are about 450 meters.
 According to industry estimates, eVTOL is about to rise and will occupy a height of about 300 meters. The existing helicopters will move up, almost to a height of about 600 meters.

Do eVTOL Aircraft Need to Apply for a Certificate Before They Enter Commercial Operation?

Of course! The civil aviation field has extremely high requirements for issuing airworthiness certificates. The aircraft must be tested in all aspects (safety, performance, function, use, reliability). The certificate will not be issued until all are qualified. The entire cycle lasts for several years.
Currently, EHANG’s unmanned manned aircraft, EH216-S, is the world’s first “air taxi” to obtain airworthiness certification. It has experienced a total of more than 500 subjects of preliminary tests, more than 40,000 flight sorties of adjustment tests, 65 major items, and more than 450 subjects of formal compliance verification tests.
This aircraft’s maximum flight speed is 130 kilometers per hour, its flight duration is 25 minutes, and its designed range is 30 kilometers. 

Can You Dare to Sit in eVTOL?

The EH216-S aircraft has completed more than 45,000 safe flights in 14 countries worldwide in the past few years and is as stable as an old dog.
 It is designed with sufficient redundancy for aviation flight. It can land smoothly even if multiple propellers stop.
Moreover, let me tell you a little trivia: 300 meters is a very safe height. When flying at this altitude, even if the engine fails, the rotor will continue to rotate, driven by the airflow. Through the rotor’s autorotation, a safe landing can be achieved.
 So, unless a rocket or missile hits you, you are safe.

Can Ordinary People Afford eVTOL?

On TV, we often see rich people flying in helicopters, which is very cool. If it is a good plane, you can enjoy the city view.
 The flight price of eVTOL is much lower than that of traditional helicopters.

Will eVTOL Replace Civil Aviation Aircraft?

It won’t. eVTOL has its positioning. Its flight distance is limited, and it is not suitable for long-distance flights. It is mainly aimed at short-distance travel.
It needs to be mentioned here that eVTOL has high energy density requirements for power batteries.
 Currently, the energy density of mass-produced electric vehicle power batteries on the market ranges from about 140Wh/kg to 200Wh/kg, which is far from meeting eVTOL’s requirements.
In mass production and meeting airworthiness requirements, 400Wh/kg aviation lithium battery products are the main products.
 In the future, if key technologies such as high-energy-density lithium batteries, high-specific power hydrogen fuel cells, high-efficiency electric propulsion systems, high thrust-to-weight ratio ducted fans, advanced aerodynamic layout ducted fans, and solar drones can be broken through, eVTOL will become stronger.

eVTOL, When Can We Get on It?

According to the plan, it is expected that in 2025-2026, many eVTOL companies will be able to obtain airworthiness certificates and be equipped with corresponding operating standards. This also means that eVTOL gradually began to be put into market operation then. Everyone was slowly able to sit down.
 The method of use is also very simple. You can “call the plane with one click through the mobile app.”

In the Low-Altitude Economy, What Other Opportunities Exist?

There are so many functions.
 It can generally be used to transport people for sightseeing, business flights, and medical emergencies. It can also transport goods, logistics, and express delivery.
Logistics drone
There are even more special operations, such as agriculture, forestry, plant protection, high-rise fire extinguishing, geographical surveying and mapping, security patrols, environmental monitoring, power inspections, etc.
fire fighting drone

What other Names is the Low-Atitude Economy, Known By?

In Europe, it’s called UAM (Urban Air Mobility), and in the United States, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) calls it AAM (Advanced Air Mobility). In addition, there is IAM (regional air traffic), RAM (rural air traffic), and SAM (suburban air traffic).

China’s low-altitude economy Vs. Others? What are the Differences?

In traditional aircraft manufacturing, china is inferior to others. China started late, and others started early. China is far behind in the entire aircraft industry chain.
As for engines, everyone knows that chinese aero engines are not good enough. In addition to engines, they are  inferior to rival countries in many other aspects, such as motors and body materials.
 
In addition to hardware, they also have more pilots than the Chinese. After the end of World War II, 600,000 pilots in the United States changed careers, and basically, all entered the field of general aviation, which greatly stimulated the development of the American aviation industry and formed a unique civil aviation flying culture.
 Domestic transportation in the United States is built closely around highways and aviation. As for China, are gradually adopting high-speed rail and expressway routes this century.

 The advantages The Chinese Aviation Has Over Others.

One advantage of starting late in development is that more advanced technologies can be used.
 As you can see, many of their drones are multi-rotors. The eVTOL I just mentioned is basically a multi-rotor. In the early days, people felt that multi-rotor wastes energy and has low energy efficiency. If it is an electric multi-rotor, it is a waste of electricity.
 But it turns out that in current working scenarios of drones and eVTOLs, the payloads are relatively small, and the weight is relatively light. This little thing is more practical.
 China is developing rapidly regarding multi-rotors, such as DJI and the EHang I just mentioned.
 In addition to multi-rotors, their electric vehicles are developing faster. As a result, they may be having technical advantages in the three-electricity (battery, electronic control, and electronic regulation) systems.
Also, the chinese flight control technology has advanced rapidly. Electricity prices are low in china, which is also conducive to the development of the industry.

What Does the Low-Altitude Economy have to do with 5G?

Low-altitude economy and 5G are closely related.
 First, safety is extremely important when aircraft fly in urban areas with high population density. Aircraft need to maintain communication with the ground, aircraft flight status needs to be tracked and fedback, and aircraft routes need to be scheduled, all of which rely on communication technology.
5G is a very suitable communication technology. It has large bandwidth, low delay and high reliability, and can provide communication guarantee for low-altitude flights.
 Some special-operation aircraft, such as emergency rescue helicopters, require networks such as 5G to transmit the vital signs data of the injured back to the hospital in real-time for prompt treatment.
There are also drones for forest fire prevention and environmental monitoring, which require 5G for real-time ultra-high-definition image transmission.
 Now entering the 5G-A era, 5G-A now has synaesthesia integration.
 Synaesthesia integration is equivalent to having an additional radar function in the base station, which can greatly improve the tracking and management capabilities of low-altitude aircraft and monitor the position, speed and trajectory of low-altitude aircraft in real time.

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