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Israeli private electric plane will soon be ready for take off
AIR ONE, created in Pardes Hana, has more than 300 advance orders ahead of its expected launch in 2024
The day when you will be able to enter your garage, hop into a personal aircraft and cruise above the congested traffic on the streets below is coming closer.
Air EV, based in Pardes Hana, Israel, expects to start delivering its two-seater, battery-operated electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft late next year, with hundreds of people already signed up to join the urban air mobility revolution.
“I think we’ll probably be, if not the first, then one of the earliest companies in the market,” says Chen Rosen, CTO and Co-Founder of Air EV.
Leveraging major advances in electric propulsion, eVTOL aircraft offer the average person the ability to “drive in the sky,” while providing an environmentally sustainable solution to a growing urban transportation problem. Simple to fly, and priced to compete with a high-end luxury car, Air EV’s AIR ONE aircraft is designed for private commuter and recreational use.
“We have over 300 pre-orders,” Rosen told Shruti Mishra of CNBC-TV 18 at the 2023 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit last month, where a full-scale prototype of AIR ONE was a standout attraction.
“Because we’ve selected this route of building and certifying a private aircraft, rather than a commercial air taxi, we can move a little bit faster, so I think we’ll be in the market before other companies,” he said.
“We sell the aircraft for a base price of $150,000. It will probably come closer to $200,000 by the time we deliver,” says CEO and Co-Founder Rani Plaut. “We intend to deliver the first units at the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025.”
Plaut estimates that potential revenue could be in the billions of dollars.
The startup is on track to receive clearance from the US Federation Aviation Administration. The company plans to transfer most of its operations and research and development to the US for further flight testing and certification collaboration with the FAA.
AIR ONE recently reached a major milestone with its first unmanned flight over the skies of southern Israel, successfully transitioning from hover flight to cruise flight. Its next text phase will be with someone onboard, Plaut says.
The vehicle has a range of 100 miles on a single charge, and can fly up to 155 miles per hour at an altitude of 1,200 feet. The aircraft, powered by a battery much like an electric car battery, is zero-emission and designed to take off and land on any flat surface.
Measuring about 25 feet by 8 feet, it has collapsible wings to allow easy parking. It requires only about 15 to 30 hours of training. The company’s goal is that no pilot’s license will be necessary.
From the hundreds of orders already received, AIR ONE has broad appeal.
“We have a 35 year-old guy with a little bit of money from Bitcoin. We have a 75 year-old ex-pilot. It’s a very wide variety of people – some of it for commuting, some of it for leisure. Everybody buys it,” Plaut says.
For some, it’s just a dream come true.
“Half are people who have always wanted to fly and now see this is an opportunity because this is a lot easier than a conventional aircraft,” says Rosen.
Air EV is currently raising an investment round on the OurCrowd platform. For more information, click HERE.