AIR unveils its first autonomous cargo eVTOL
Electric vertical takeoff and landing craft developer AIR is to expand into the cargo and logistics market with its new autonomous AIR ONE Cargo product, described as the ‘unmanned version…
June 19, 2024
Electric vertical takeoff and landing craft developer AIR is to expand into the cargo and logistics market with its new autonomous AIR ONE Cargo product, described as the ‘unmanned version of its flagship eVTOL aircraft’.
“Venturing into this new market with AIR ONE Cargo is a testament to our unwavering commitment to the integration of eVTOLS into all spheres of daily life, for a variety of use cases,” said CEO and co-founder of AIR Rani Paul. “The feedback we’ve already received affirms that AIR ONE’s robust capabilities and simple, cost-effective design make it an extremely agile platform, uniquely able to scale across different uses”.
The cargo variant – developed “in response to strong market demand” – is capable of taking off and landing vertically while carrying a 250kg payload, offering range and speeds comparable to its as-yet-uncertified passenger-carrying sibling.
According to its manufacturers, the AIR ONE eVTOL can be fully charged from flat within an hour, with the craft also able to take advantage of public electric vehicle fast DC charging points with the use of a portable adapter. A patented foldable wing mechanism allows the AIR ONE to be stowed in a custom trailer, with the entire folding process able to be completed by one person within five minutes.
Full-scale prototypes continue to “amass significant flight test hours” and have “successfully [proved] all phases of flight,” concludes AIR, which has already reserved 1,170 AIR ONE vehicles via preorder.
