By Rodrigo Viga Gaier
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The first flights of the electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVtol) being developed by an Embraer subsidiary are expected to cost between US$50 and US$100 per passenger, said the chief executive of Embraer’s innovation arm. Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Daniel Moczydlower.
According to the executive, the vehicle being developed by Eve, a company belonging to the Embraer group, tends to be, in the future, an urban mobility vehicle used by millions of middle-class people around the world.
The first operational flight of Eve’s eVtol, which may take place in Brazil, is expected to take place between 2026 and 2027. In principle, the flights should take place in large cities and metropolises, where the demand for a service of this type tends to be greater, stated.
In the case of the model being developed by Eve, the routes to be served will be of a maximum of 15 minutes, time considered sufficient, for example, for a flight between Campinas (SP) and São Paulo or from Galeão airport to Barra da Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro.
Both stretches are marked by long traffic jams where a trip by car can take more than an hour versus 10 to 15 minutes in an eVtol.
“The goal for the initial entry that we have been looking at is to reach 50 to 100 dollars, a trip. This for Brazil is still expensive and we are studying ways after the entry into operation to gain more efficiency to be able to reduce more”, said Moczydlower, president of Embraer-X.
The company’s estimates indicate that large cities such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro could have 200 to 300 eVtols.
“The mayor of Rio wants to be the first and there are many cities in the world wanting to be pioneers”, stated the executive. “It will be a vehicle for big cities that suffer from congestion; they are the big demanders,” he added.
Eve’s first eVtol will have capacity for one pilot and four passengers, but in the future, it will likely be possible for flights to take place without a pilot. That would make room on the aircraft for one or two more passengers, Moczydlower said.
Eve’s eVtol backlog already has a potential demand for 2,770 vehicles, equivalent to eventual revenue of $8.3 billion, the executive said.
“Today there are no flights from Guarulhos to Viracopos; but for an eVtol it would make sense. No one uses flying within the city as a routine. Is it a vehicle to replace a helicopter? No. It’s to create a market that doesn’t exist today,” he said.
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