At the Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K., Eve unveiled its first full-scale eVTOL air taxi prototype, assembled at Embraer’s test facility in Brazil’s São Paulo state.

In the U.S., Archer Aviation was the first to hit that milestone, followed shortly after by Joby Aviation and Overair. German eVTOL manufacturers Lilium and Volocopter each have rolled out full-scale prototypes as well, as has China’s EHang.

Eve’s 100 percent electric design now joins them. The lift-plus-cruise model is built to fly up to four passengers and a pilot on 60 sm (52 nm) air taxi routes in and around major cities. It will be piloted at launch, but the company intends to transition to uncrewed operations in the future.

The air taxi includes eight dedicated propellers for vertical flight and fixed wings for cruise, as well as an electric pusher powered by dual electric motors.

Eve seeks to introduce the aircraft commercially in 2026, in line with many of its competitors. The company received proposed airworthiness criteria, a key step toward that goal, from Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) in December.

“Our global team of engineers have shown exceptional dedication and expertise to successfully assemble our first full-scale eVTOL prototype,” said Johann Bordais, CEO of Eve. “This is a significant milestone that underscores our commitment to safety, accessibility and innovation.”

Eve is building its flagship air taxi using components and systems from a massive network of suppliers, and it announced two more at Farnborough: Diehl Aviation will design the eVTOL’s interior, while electric aerospace systems provider ASE will supply a power distribution system. Other Eve suppliers include Honeywell, Thales, Garmin, and BAE Systems.

On Tuesday at the airshow, the manufacturer announced another key collaborator, the smart infrastructure arm of technology conglomerate Siemens. The partners will work to gauge just how much energy an eVTOL network will require, as well as the best way to get that energy into the aircraft.

“The results and insights that Siemens and Eve Air Mobility will gain from this collaborative effort are expected to inform our strategy in preparing the ecosystem and developing services at scale for customers in the U.S. and, potentially, around the world,” said Luiz Mauad, vice president of customer services at Eve.

Eve last year announced the site of its first eVTOL manufacturing plant, where it intends to produce as many as 480 aircraft annually. Per the manufacturer’s fourth-quarter 2023 earnings report in March, it has an order pipeline of 2,850 aircraft, with the total value of nonbinding orders exceeding $8 billion.

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Electra picked Honeywell to provide the flight control computers and electromechanical actuators for its nine-passenger eSTOL design. In addition, Honeywell said it made a “strategic financial investment” in Electra, the value of which was not disclosed.

“Our ability to preintegrate multiple subsystems will not only help reduce the time it takes to install and integrate these technologies, but it will also enable Electra to expedite and streamline production of its groundbreaking eSTOL aircraft,” said Dave Shilliday, president of Honeywell Aerospace Technologies’ advanced air mobility (AAM) arm.

The company’s AAM business has racked up $10 billion worth of contracts and added customers such as Lilium, Boom Supersonic, and Heart Aerospace.

Electra’s flagship model makes use of a unique blown lift propulsion system, which redirects airflows downward to enable takeoffs at neighborhood driving speeds. The hybrid-electric design is expected to require just 150 feet of runway, with no electric chargers necessary. The manufacturer seeks to achieve certification under FAA Part 23 regulations by 2028.

Honeywell’s compact fly-by-wire flight control computer, which it describes as the “brains” of the aircraft, will be a key piece of Electra’s full-scale model. It is a fraction of the size and weight of typical computers on larger aircraft, the company says, drawing less power by comparison. The technology is intended to reduce turbulence by dynamically adjusting the eSTOL’s electric motors, replacing hydraulics and control cables.

The electromechanical actuators are similarly light and compact despite having 10 percent greater power density than most other actuators on the market, by Honeywell’s estimate. These take electronic commands from the pilot or onboard flight system, convert them to mechanical force, and use it to move control surfaces such as flaps.

The agreement to supply the two components was accompanied by an undisclosed investment from Honeywell Ventures, the firm’s venture capital arm.

“The investment supports collaboration between the two companies, reinforcing Honeywell’s commitment to advanced air mobility and the future of sustainable flight,” Honeywell said Wednesday.

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The São Paulo-based company—which intends to launch commercial advanced air mobility (AAM) services in 2026—is enlisting Thales, Honeywell, Recaro Aircraft Seating, and FACC to supply the sensors, guidance and navigation, seats, and flight controls for its flagship model.

The Brazilian company’s aircraft is a lift plus cruise design built to fly four passengers and a pilot, with eight propellers dedicated to vertical flight and fixed wings for cruise. Unlike tiltrotor designs from competitors such as Archer Aviation and Boeing’s Wisk Aero, none of its propulsion systems move.

Recently, Eve added an electric pusher powered by dual electric motors to the design, creating redundant propulsion and improving safety and performance, the company said. It also claims the design will offer efficient thrust and minimal sound, despite a low cost of operation and fewer parts compared to conventional aircraft.

The Embraer subsidiary has begun assembling its first full-scale eVTOL prototype, which will undergo a test campaign later this year. It plans to launch commercial service worldwide in 2026.

Like Archer, Lilium, and other air taxi competitors, Eve intends to leverage a network of suppliers to build its aircraft. Outsourcing the production of components, the companies say, can keep capital costs lower than competitors.

This week’s partnerships come on the heels of two additional supplier announcements Eve made last year.

In June, it announced Nidec Aerospace—a joint venture between Embraer and Japan’s Nidec Corporation—BAE systems, and Duc Hélices Propellers as providers of electric propulsion, energy storage, and rotors and propellers, respectively. A few months later, Garmin, Liebherr-Aerospace, and Intergalactic were picked to supply flight controls, avionics, and thermal management systems.

Additionally, Eve is working with DHL Supply Chain to study the demands of its network, an agreement that also calls for the delivery of batteries, spare parts, and supplies, as well as the disposal of used materials.

“We continue to be on schedule with our master plan, and we are building a strong and reputable list of qualified suppliers for our eVTOL aircraft,” said Johann Bordais, CEO of Eve Air Mobility. “We have been very deliberate in establishing a long-term working relationship with each of our suppliers. Each agreement covers the aircraft’s life cycle including prototype, production, and aftermarket service and operational support.”

From Thales, Eve will receive an air data solution comprising sensors and a computer, which gathers data such as airspeed, altitude, and environmental conditions. That information is then relayed to pilots and other onboard systems to ensure safe flight in all weather conditions.

Honeywell will provide guidance and navigation in the form of magnetometers, GPS-aided attitude and heading reference systems, inertial reference systems, and other tech. Similarly, the data will be beamed to pilots and other systems to improve efficiency. Honeywell will also supply external lighting for the air taxi.

Recaro, a global supplier of premium aircraft seats for airlines (such as Alaska Airlines and Gulf Air), OEMs, and eVTOL designs, will design, certify, and produce the air taxi’s five seats. FACC, which is known for producing lightweight components, will lead development of the aircraft’s horizontal and vertical tail, including the rudder, elevator, and aileron.

The new partnerships come on the heels of the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency’s (ANAC) release of proposed airworthiness criteria for Eve’s design. The step is a key cog in the path to type certification, laying out the regulator’s requirements for how the air taxi is designed and operated. American eVTOL manufacturers Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation achieved the milestone in late 2022.

Eve and Embraer last year also broke ground on the company’s first eVTOL manufacturing plant in the Brazilian city of Taubaté near São Paulo. In a few months or years, suppliers will begin shipping components to the site, where Eve will mass produce its aircraft following certification.

Once scaled manufacturing begins, Eve intends to deliver its aircraft around the world. The company has agreements in place for air taxi services on six different continents, including partners in Brazil, Latin America, France, Scandinavia, India, Kenya, Dubai, Australia, and the Asia-Pacific region.

The manufacturer is also eyeing operations with partner (and investor) United Airlines, with plans to launch in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2026. Elsewhere in the U.S., Eve is collaborating with Blade Air Mobility to add service to South Florida.

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Announced at EAA Airventure, the partnership includes RED Aircraft’s AO3 series compression ignition engine, rated to 550 hp, and Ampaire’s electrical system for peak power. RED Aircraft will develop and supply Jet A/sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)-compatible engine subsystems to Ampaire as part of the partnership’s goal to commercialize electric-propulsion aircraft for applications up to 800 hp.

“RED Aircraft sees enormous potential for hybrid-electric aircraft and believes the Eco Caravan is just the first step to bringing a new level of efficiency and vastly lower emissions to a large swath of aviation,” said Jürgen Schwarz, CEO of RED. “We are thrilled to be pursuing these opportunities hand-in-hand with Ampaire.”

The Cessna Eco Caravan serves as the first aircraft to receive the new propulsion system, but many more hybrid-electric fixed-wing aircraft are in development.

“The modern, powerful, and ultra-fuel-efficient RED engines have exactly the right characteristics for the Eco Caravan’s hybrid-electric propulsion system and for many other upgrades or all-new designs we may pursue,” said Ampaire CEO Kevin Noertker. “We are very pleased to take this first step in collaboration with a company that shares our goal to decarbonize aviation while reducing costs for aircraft operators and their passengers.”

Ampaire is not the first to electrify a Caravan, however. In 2020, electric propulsion designer Magnix and flight test specialist AeroTEC developed a fully-electric Cessna 208B Caravan. The aircraft’s maiden flight only lasted 30 minutes, restricting it to short distances.

Also, Pipistrel’s fully electric Velis Electro two-seater has been type certificated by EASA, and is being used as a trainer in the U.S. In Colorado, Bye Aerospace said recently it’s making significant progress toward key approvals to certificate its fully electric eFlyer 2 two-seater. 

• READ MORE: Bye Aerospace Nears Key Approvals for eFlyer 2 

H2 About the Aircraft 

According to Ampaire, the Eco Caravan will offer several benefits, including:

• fuel consumption reduced up to 70 percent
• Jet A/SAF compatible engine
• lower initial engine and maintenance costs
• up to 40 percent lower operating costs.

Ampaire was formed in 2016 to upgrade existing passenger aircraft to hybrid-electric vehicles in order to push the aviation industry towards net-zero emissions. RED, or Raikhlin Engine Developments, was founded in 1995 by Vladimir Raikhlin and is based in Adenau, Germany.

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