AutoFlight shares latest electric air taxi ‘proof of concept’ video

Fully electric air taxi firm AutoFlight has released its second proof-of-concept (POC) video for its Prosperity I.

The new video debuts less than four months after the original POC video and includes a modified, more efficient design of Prosperity I.

In the latest design, new optimized lifting propellers allow for a higher hover efficiency, while the two pushing propellers that were previously on either side of the air taxi have been replaced with one center propeller with twin motors to enhance cruising abilities. This most recent design of Prosperity I is very close to the final design which will be released later this year.

Prosperity I was designed for transfers between parts of a city, airport commutes, connecting two nearby cities or enabling trips to the countryside while avoiding traffic on the ground. When ready for commercial flight in 2026, it is expected that a trip that takes hours by car will be reduced to about ten minutes with Prosperity I, without being any less safe or more expensive than a car taxi ride.

Mark Henning, Managing Director of AutoFlight Europe, said: “POC#2 is a new milestone for us, and we are pleased to have achieved over 30 successful transitions in the last few weeks with a full-size aircraft. This further demonstrates the great potential of our lift & cruise configuration which combines simplicity and safety. We will encompass all these key experiences and learnings into the final, full scale, design of Prosperity I which we will be revealing later this year.”

AutoFlight CEO Tian Yu, who has over two decades of experience designing and building electric aircraft, and 300 electric aviation-related patents, said: “We’re delighted to announce POC#2 for Prosperity I. This takes us another step towards our vision of unlocking the skies for mass individual transport in the air by creating safe, efficient eVTOL aircrafts.”