+VIDEO As part of a grand plan of serving people worldwide with the ‘joy of expanding their life’s potential’, Honda is working on an electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Honda says it will use ‘core technologies’ it has amassed including in the areas of combustion, electrification, control and robotics.
However, Honda isn’t going down the pure battery powered route for its eVTOL. Instead, the Honda eVTOL will have gas turbine hybrid power unit to get the desired range for city-to-city transportation, where it expects the market to grow in the future.
“The all-electric eVTOL aircraft face a range issue due to limited battery capacity, therefore the realistic use area is limited to intra-city (inside city) transportation,” said Honda’s statement.
“To address this issue and realize user-friendly inter-city transportation with longer range, Honda will leverage its electrification technologies and develop Honda eVTOL equipped with a gas turbine hybrid power unit.
“Moreover, in addition to electrification technologies, Honda eVTOL will feature technologies Honda has amassed in a number of different areas such as combustion, aerodynamics and control technologies.
“Honda will strive to create new value for people by establishing a ‘mobility ecosystem’ featuring eVTOL aircraft at its core, coordinated and integrated with mobility on the ground.”
