Copyright newsweek
Within a few short years, if Adam Goldstein has his way, the skyline over America’s great cities could look very different. Goldstein is the CEO of Archer Aviation, a California-based company that produces electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Commonly known as flying cars, though they can’t actually drive on the road, eVTOLs serve the function of a helicopter while more closely resembling giant electric drones. Capable of carrying passengers or cargo over short to mid-distances, advocates say they will be ideal for moving swiftly around congested cities. EVTOLs have been making headlines for more than a decade, but with multiple companies preparing for commercial launches, and regulators granting greater approval, they appear poised for the prime time. EVTOLs Vs Helicopters Goldstein told Newsweek that eVTOLs have three big advantages over conventional helicopters, which he summarized as “cost, safety and noise.” Even a small helicopter can produce 80-100 decibels, making it impractical for them to operate over urban areas in large numbers, and sparking hostile campaigns from local residents such as “Stop the Chop” in New York and New Jersey, which aims to “eliminate nonessential flights” over the New York City metropolitan area. By contrast, eVTOLs are much quieter, with Goldstein saying during a recent display of Archer’s four passenger Midnight aircraft at California’s Salinas Airshow “they basically fly by, and they don’t make any noise,” with the announcer showing he could produce more noise by whispering during the performance. Goldstein added that “the safety side of eVTOLs is probably the biggest benefit,” as they have multi-propeller engines and are “designed to have very few or zero single points of failure.” By contrast, helicopters rely on a single main rotor blade meaning they have “many, in some cases hundreds, of single points of failure.” In the long-term, Goldstein said eVTOLs have a major cost advantage over helicopters as “the uptime is much higher because they’re electric, the costs are much lower.” Archer’s Midnight Archer produces Midnight, a 6,500-pound eVTOL designed to carry one pilot and up to four passengers with “rapid back-to-back flights of 20-50 miles with minimal charge time in between.” According to the company, Midnight is “up to 100 times quieter than a helicopter” and can reach speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. Earlier this month, Aviation Week reported Archer had nearly completed internal testing of Midnight and expects to begin Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Type Inspection Authorization, the final certification stage, in the coming months. While the initial plan is for Midnight eVTOLs to operate with a pilot, Goldstein expects them to become fully autonomous in the near future. Midnight, the eVTOL being produced by Archer Aviation. “I actually think flying in the air is easier autonomously than flying on the ground, simply because there’s not a lot of stuff in the air…I think the technology is there today for the airplanes to do it,” he said. According to Goldstein, the current issues with eVTOLs operating without pilots are a mixture of regulatory, infrastructure in terms of communicating with other aircraft and controllers on the ground, and consumer acceptance. Over time, as battery technology improves, Goldstein also thinks eVTOLs could become bigger. “Batteries are only so good today, where you can only build so much. It’s the reason why everyone’s doing pilot plus four instead of, like, pilot plus eight or whatever. It’s just because the payload considerations are so challenging. So, I think over time you can do that,” he said. In terms of uses for Midnight, Goldstein said “anything where a helicopter is used, this is great platform.” Along with urban transportation, he cited medical emergencies and law enforcement as obvious use cases for Midnight, while the company has already delivered aircraft to the U.S. military. Commercial Launch Archer has partnered with Abu Dhabi Aviation, which plans to launch a commercial eVTOL service in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s second city in the near future. Midnight eVTOLs have already been delivered to Abu Dhabi were testing began in July to ensure local conditions are taken into account. Archer isn’t the only eVTOL company focusing on the UAE with Joby, one of its main competitors, hoping to launch in Dubai next year, with launch facilities currently under construction as sites including Dubai International Airport, according to Aviation Week. Archer Aviation CEO Adam Goldstein (Archer Aviation) At some point in the next two years Archer is also hoping to launch Midnight services in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area, with maps produced by the company showing proposed stops at key locations including SoFi Stadium, Long Beach, the University of Southern California, an...
