Archer pushes Midnight eVTOL beyond urban airspace with 7,000 ft test flight
September 23, 2025
Archer Aviation has ticked off another milestone in its flight-test campaign, announcing that its Midnight eVTOL has climbed to an altitude of 7,000 feet during a sortie from the company’s base in Salinas, California.
The test profile saw Midnight’s pilot conduct a steady climb, level off, and then continue for a total of 45 miles at speeds of more than 120 mph. The company highlighted the achievement as part of its methodical “envelope expansion” effort, noting that while eVTOLs are typically designed to operate between 1,500 and 4,000 feet in urban corridors, additional altitude capability could prove valuable both for traffic management in crowded skies and for operations in high-elevation cities.
The sortie follows on from another recent performance marker in which Midnight flew 55 miles in 31 minutes at speeds above 126 mph.
“I’m proud of the team for consistently proving Midnight’s performance capabilities while maintaining the highest safety standards,” says Archer Chief Executive Adam Goldstein. “Our test pilots will continue to safely and methodically test Midnight’s speed, duration and mission profiles to prepare for early commercial operations.”
With the aircraft’s test programme continuing apace, Archer is keeping the line of sight firmly fixed on FAA certification and an early launch of services in the United Arab Emirates.
How high do eVTOLs really fly?
The typical operating envelope for urban air taxis is modest by aviation standards. Most designs, from Lilium to Wisk, set out to cruise in the 1,500–4,000 ft band, high enough to clear obstacles and integrate with controlled airspace, but low enough to make quick vertical transitions practical.
That said, several developers have already pushed their prototypes to higher altitudes. Joby Aviation has publicly reported test flights above 10,000 ft MSL, demonstrating both speed and endurance well beyond what urban routes would normally demand.
EHang, with its multicopter design, operates much lower in commercial trials, though some of its variants are rated to reach thousands of metres. Vertical Aerospace intends to keep its VX4 aircraft within the standard band, but its demonstrators have proven capable of higher flights during development work.
The contrast is important: while day-to-day eVTOL missions may only require modest cruise altitudes, being able to climb well above that range can help with safety, operational flexibility, and regulatory clearance. Archer’s 7,000 ft flight is therefore less about what passengers will see on a routine trip across town, and more about proving the platform has the headroom to cope with the unexpected.
What comes next for Archer?
For Archer, climbing to 7,000 ft is just one more brick in the wall of data gathering. The company’s roadmap involves systematically pushing the aircraft through its speed, endurance, and altitude envelopes, while moving steadily toward more complex piloted profiles.
Midnight has already notched up significant piloted flights, including the 55-mile August sortie, but it has not yet conducted a publicly confirmed piloted transition flight—the full manoeuvre from hover to wing-borne cruise and back again.
Rival Joby achieved its first piloted transition in April 2025 and has since flown airport-to-airport missions in controlled airspace. Lilium, meanwhile, completed transition with its Phoenix 2 demonstrator back in 2022, and Vertical Aerospace is preparing to cross the same threshold with its VX4.
That makes the next few months pivotal for Archer. Successfully repeating transition with a pilot onboard will be a symbolic as well as technical milestone, putting Midnight in the same category as its closest competitors.
From there, the focus will shift to accumulating test hours, demonstrating reliability, and compiling the certification evidence needed on both sides of the Atlantic.
In parallel, Archer is preparing for high-profile operational trials in the UAE, where it hopes to be among the first eVTOL developers to enter commercial service.
