EHang Makes Flurry of Announcements on Its eVTOL Aicraft

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The eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft space isn’t for everyone. Some people are crazy about it (perhaps too crazy) and others think it’s as much of a dead end as flying cars were in the 1950s. Frankly, I don’t know where I stand, but I’m interested to see where it all goes, and I enjoy watching and reporting on the progress. EHang is certainly one of the companies to watch, so let’s get to its latest news — five stories published within the past week, starting from most recent to least recent.

First of all, we’ve got a simple story about new investments ($22 million) into EHang from China and the UAE, bringing the company’s total financing so far this year up to about $100 million. Here are the details: “EHang Holdings Limited (‘EHang’ or the ‘Company’) (Nasdaq: EH), the world’s leading Urban Air Mobility (‘UAM’) technology platform company, today announced a strategic investment totaling over US$22 million. The investors are Zhuhai Enpower Electric Co., Ltd. (‘Enpower’, SZ300681), a Chinese leading new energy vehicle power systems provider, and a strategic institutional investor from the Middle East. Both investors agree to a 180-day lock-up period.

“The strategic investment from Enpower is based on its recently announced long-term strategic partnership and technology development cooperation with EHang, aimed at co-developing high-performance electric motor drive systems for EHang’s suite of electric vertical take-off and landing (‘eVTOL’) aircraft.

“Additionally, the strategic investment from the United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’)-based investor reflects their optimism in China’s emerging low-altitude economy industry and EHang’s growth potential as a global eVTOL leader. The UAE represents one of EHang’s largest international markets with an intentional order book of 100 units with five units delivered. This investor will utilize their extensive financial and business network to assist in EHang’s international expansion in other countries in the Middle East as well as in Southeast Asia.”

That’s progress, and opens more doors, but $22 million is pretty small peanuts in this kind of market.

Yesterday, EHang announced it had made a “breakthrough” in solid-state battery tech. Working with the Low-Altitude Economy Battery Research Institute of the Hefei International Advanced Technology Application Promotion Center and the company Shenzhen Inx Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (“Inx”), EHang conducted the first eVTOL flight with a passenger but no pilot in which the eVTOL aircraft was using solid-state batteries. The flight went for 48 minutes and 10 seconds. The company says that using this solid-state battery “improves the flight endurance by 60%–90%.” That’s a lot! No mention on costs. You can read more about the battery here.

EHang launches a new hub. Over in Luogang Central Park in Hefei, Anhui Province, EHang just launched a new UAM hub. “Titled ‘Ascend’, the UAM Hub’s upward spiral design symbolizes the rise of the eVTOL low-altitude economy. It spans approximately 1,963 square meters and is designed to accommodate 10 to 20 units of EH216-S aircraft. It features multiple dedicated zones for ticketing, passenger waiting, boarding, and a command-and-control center and charging and maintenance areas. It will provide EH216-S flight services for the public according to the operational standard after obtaining the Air Operator Certificate (‘OC’). The hub also serves the functions of maintenance and provides educational services.” You can learn more here. The title was “EHang Launches Urban Air Mobility Hub at Luogang Central Park in Hefei to Drive Low-Altitude Economy.” Is a low-altitude economy really coming? We’ll see….

EHang partners with Zhuhai Enpower Electric Co for electric motor drive system. The company has a new technology partner. It’s “a long-term strategic partnership and technology development cooperation with Zhuhai Enpower Electric Co., Ltd. (‘Enpower’, SZ300681), a pioneer in new energy vehicle (‘NEV’) power systems, to co-develop high-performance electric motors and motor controllers for EHang’s suite of electric vertical take-off and landing (‘eVTOL’) aircraft.” Partnerships and innovative, refined technology are great, but they’ve got to get them to mass production to make a difference. For now, you can read more about the partnership here.

Passenger flights in Thailand. Last but not least, EHang shared that its EH216-S pilotless eVTOL aicraft performed its first passenger flights in Thailand recently. They took place starting at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in central Bangkok. The company plans to conduct more test flights and the begin commercial flights starting in 2025.

“The debut passenger flights of our EH216-S pilotless eVTOL in Thailand is a key milestone in EHang’s ongoing international development and that is a strong boost in promoting the transformation of global advanced urban air mobility,” Mr. Conor Yang, CFO of EHang, stated. “We aim to apply our pilotless eVTOL products and solutions in the Southeast Asian market. In the future, with the strong support of the CAAT, we will cooperate with our local partners to formulate a model for regular UAM operations in Thailand, contributing to the development of the urban air mobility market in Southeast Asia and worldwide.”