While Joby Aviation is a year away from the commercial launch of its urban electric air taxi, its sights are already set on the future: traversing city to city using hydrogen power.
To initiate discussions with regulatory bodies and showcase the potential of hydrogen, Joby disclosed to TechCrunch its accomplishment of a 523-mile flight using a hydrogen-electric prototype — an adaptation of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle enhanced with a hydrogen fuel cell and propulsion system.
As of now, Joby Aviation’s eVTOLs are engineered for short hauls within urban locales or between cities and airports, with a battery capacity that supports 100 miles of flight. Introducing hydrogen, however, ushers in the ability for broader regional travel, Joby believes.
“This represents a significant advancement in aviation,” remarked JoeBen Bevirt, Joby’s CEO, to TechCrunch. “For extensive travel distances or prolonged air time, hydrogen-electric offers a revolutionary shift.”
The debate around the feasibility of hydrogen as a vehicle fuel is longstanding, given its zero-emission characteristics — emitting only water — but also its high production costs and energy demands, often reliant on fossil fuels. Despite this, the growing investments in renewable energy-produced green hydrogen are injecting new vigor into the industry, a development that holds promising prospects for aviation, Bevirt asserts.
Joby has made strategic moves to incorporate hydrogen in its eVTOL designs, notably acquiring the German hydrogen aviation company H2Fly in 2021. Utilizing H2Fly’s technology, Joby recently powered one of its eVTOLs with hydrogen, with the fuel cell system efficiently operating the vehicle’s six electric motors and recharging its batteries mid-flight, shared Bevirt with TechCrunch.
Although still in the demonstration phase, Joby envisions a seamless transition to testing hydrogen-powered regional flights, leveraging a major portion of the existing battery electric aircraft systems and infrastructure for minimal additional expense, Bevirt explained.
ElevateOS, playing a pivotal role in Joby’s forthcoming air taxi services, emerged from the acquisition of Uber’s air taxi venture in 2020. This system, alongside software integration with Uber and launch partner Delta Airlines, promises a seamless user experience for regional air mobility, according to Bevirt.
Investor sentiment, however, remains skeptical.
Cyrus Sigari, co-founder and managing partner at VC Up.Partners, expressed caution, emphasizing the need for a compelling case in both technical and business perspectives to attract investment towards hydrogen-powered eVTOLs, especially considering the infrastructure challenges.
Sigari’s remarks highlight the industry’s existing dilemmas in accommodating battery electric aircraft, with the introduction of hydrogen refueling stations complicating matters further. However, the closure of Universal Hydrogen, a key player in hydrogen aviation, highlights the sector’s difficulties, yet Bevirt remains optimistic about overcoming such infrastructural hurdles, noting ongoing dialogues with numerous airports about installing liquid hydrogen refueling stations.
Despite these challenges, significant strides, such as ZeroAvia’s agreement with American Airlines for 100 hydrogen-powered engines, signals growing interest and confidence in hydrogen aviation. With no fixed timeline for their hydrogen-powered eVTOLs, Joby’s demonstration aims to catalyze discussions with both green hydrogen producers and regulatory bodies toward realizing this innovative air travel solution, Bevirt concluded.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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