POWERTRAIN
MAGNETIC GEARS FOR URBAN AIR MOBILITY
David Latimer explains why there is so much interest in this new type of motor
Archer’s latest used for leisure travel T
he Vertical Flight Society eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft directory currently lists over
450 aircraft in development. These range from electric rotor craft similar to today’s helicopters, to multi-rotor aircraft where the rotors are used for both lift and thrust. While many of these are desk-based studies unlikely to make it into service, some are serious undertakings with expectations of entering service by 2025. The creators of the latter designs can be broadly divided into two camps – new entrants who have raised substantial funding and more traditional aircraft manufacturers. Among the former, Joby Aviation,
EHang, Archer Aviation, Lilium, Vertical Aerospace, Astro Aerospace and BLADE have all raised substantial
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funding. Leading the way, perhaps, is Joby, which has completed over 1,000 flights and has agreed the path to G1 certification with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The company suffered what it claims to be
a minor setback with the crash of its first (unmanned) prototype aircraft in February while operating at the extreme end of the flight envelope. So far, the root cause of the crash has not been revealed, although there were reports of a component failure. In March, the company announced the testing of its second prototype – with the aim to start services in 2024. The incumbent manufacturers
also have their programmes. In September 2021, Airbus announced the CityAirbus NextGen. Initially pilot operated, this four-seater features eight electric motors
Magnetic motor cutaway
powering four-bladed propellers. Airbus claims to have already conducted extensive subscale testing and virtual modelling and is now into the detailed design of the aircraft.
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