AUGSBURG (Germany): AutoFlight says it has achieved the world’s longest eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) flight in history with distance of 250km on a single charge of the aircraft’s lithium-ion batteries.
The aircraft used in this record flight is the world’s first look at AutoFlight’s newest Generation 4 model, which was penned by legendary car designer Frank Stephenson.
Stephenson’s vehicle design portfolio includes iconic successes from brands including Ferrari, Maserati, McLaren, MINI and now AutoFlight.
The previous longest flight for an eVTOL was 248km set by Joby Aviation in 2021
The flight, which took place at AutoFlight’s eVTOL testing facility on Feb 23, consisted of 20 circuits on a predefined flight track, with the plane remotely piloted from the ground by AutoFlight’s flight test team.
The flight is recognised as the longest fully electric aircraft flight in history, where the aircraft both takes off and lands vertically.
This long-range test flight is a key milestone in the development of the Prosperity I aircraft, as it undergoes continued testing towards the company’s goal of airworthiness certification in 2025 with EASA.
AutoFlight’s Prosperity aircraft is a state-of-the-art electric aircraft that uses rotors to lift the aircraft vertically for takeoff, then transitions to horizontal flight on the wing (like a traditional airplane).
The aircraft is capable of speeds in excess of 200kph, over a range greater than 250km. AutoFlight is one of only a few eVTOL OEM’s to have mastered the challenging "transition phase" from vertical to horizontal flight and have done so hundreds of times, clocking thousands of flight miles on multiple iterations of their aircraft.
