Embraer spin-off
Eve Air Mobility and Hunch Mobility (a joint venture between Hunch Ventures and Blade Air Mobility Inc) have announced that they are working together to bring the first electric commuter flights to Bangalore, India, making it the launch city in the region for urban air mobility flights using electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Bangalore, located in the state of Karnataka, has an estimated population of more than 13 million people — one of the largest citis in the world and the emergence of electric aviation with eVTOL vehicles is expected to significantly reduce the carbon footprint, noise and cost of flying, making it more accessible to the masses. The two companies say the announcement is the first step as they will both be working with local, state, and federal officials, infrastructure, energy and technology providers, with the goal of ensuring the appropriate infrastructure is in place to introduce eVTOL aircraft flights.
Johann Bordais, Eve Air Mobility’s CEO, said: “This launch city announcement is the next step in a great relationship that Hunch Mobility and Eve have built to co-create the urban air mobility ecosystem in India, which is an incredibly important market for urban air mobility. Our goal is to work with Hunch Mobility to provide residents with an additional efficient and affordable mode of transportation to ease commuting times in one of the most heavily populated cities in the world.”
Hunch Mobility says Eve’s eVTOLs will offer its customers a quick and economical way to avoid traffic congestion in one of the world’s most dense urban environments, the eVTOL being 100% electric and having a range of 100km. The aircraft features a lift+cruise configuration, with dedicated rotors for vertical flight and fixed wings to fly on cruise, with no components required to change position during flight; and while it will be piloted at launch, uncrewed operations are anticipated for the future. Eve’s eVTOL is scheduled to enter service in 2026.