Photo: AutoFlight
For a while now we've been getting word of yet another electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle meant for the masses being in the works. Next week, during the Le Bourget Paris Air Show (19-25 June), the world will also get to experience it in the flesh for the first time.
The eVTOL I'm talking about is called Prosperity I. If you ask its makers, a German-Chinese start-up called AutoFlight, this is not just any other eVTOL, but the best there is, and also holder of the record for longest flight by such a machine: 155 miles (250 km).
We don't know about the first part of the above statement, but the record part is as real as they get. A Prosperity prototype flew back in March for a distance of 250.3 km (155.5 miles) with a single charge of the battery, moving past the threshold set in 2021 by Joby Aviation (154 miles/248 km).
Given how the company plans to show the eVTOL in public next week, it decided it's best to get people's interest high by releasing more info about it. Earlier this month, we got the confirmation of the aircraft's first public outing, and now we get a peek inside what is shaping up to be a very fancy ride.
Just like the rest of the machine, Prosperity's interior is the work of a designer named Frank Stephenson. That's a huge name in the auto industry, and with might be familiar with it thanks to iconic vehicles of our generation, including the 2000 MINI Cooper and the first-ever BMW SUV, the X5 E53.
For the eVTOL, an interior with five seats was imagined, one for the pilot and four for passengers, coming as one seat up front, two individual ones in the middle, and a sort of bench at the rear.
We're not given any indication as to what type of materials have been used, but the few pics of the layout reveal a beautiful play of black and white, reminiscent of what one gets in tourist spacecraft currently being developed.
The company says that when production of the machine gets going, sustainable, recycled, and reusable materials will be used for the cockpit as well, but we're not told exactly what those materials will be.
We're still some time away from when we'll get full details on the production version of the Prosperity, as AutoFlight doesn't expect to get the airworthiness certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) until 2025. For now, the aircraft presents itself as one capable of carrying 900 pounds (408 kg) of weight to distances already achieved during the record run completed earlier in 2023.
The eVTOL is meant to be used by air taxi companies, but it's not unlikely for corporations to become interested in it as well.
We don't know about the first part of the above statement, but the record part is as real as they get. A Prosperity prototype flew back in March for a distance of 250.3 km (155.5 miles) with a single charge of the battery, moving past the threshold set in 2021 by Joby Aviation (154 miles/248 km).
Given how the company plans to show the eVTOL in public next week, it decided it's best to get people's interest high by releasing more info about it. Earlier this month, we got the confirmation of the aircraft's first public outing, and now we get a peek inside what is shaping up to be a very fancy ride.
Just like the rest of the machine, Prosperity's interior is the work of a designer named Frank Stephenson. That's a huge name in the auto industry, and with might be familiar with it thanks to iconic vehicles of our generation, including the 2000 MINI Cooper and the first-ever BMW SUV, the X5 E53.
For the eVTOL, an interior with five seats was imagined, one for the pilot and four for passengers, coming as one seat up front, two individual ones in the middle, and a sort of bench at the rear.
We're not given any indication as to what type of materials have been used, but the few pics of the layout reveal a beautiful play of black and white, reminiscent of what one gets in tourist spacecraft currently being developed.
The company says that when production of the machine gets going, sustainable, recycled, and reusable materials will be used for the cockpit as well, but we're not told exactly what those materials will be.
We're still some time away from when we'll get full details on the production version of the Prosperity, as AutoFlight doesn't expect to get the airworthiness certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) until 2025. For now, the aircraft presents itself as one capable of carrying 900 pounds (408 kg) of weight to distances already achieved during the record run completed earlier in 2023.
The eVTOL is meant to be used by air taxi companies, but it's not unlikely for corporations to become interested in it as well.
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