Hydrogen-Powered Electric Aircraft Flies 840 Kilometers
A hydrogen-powered electric aircraft has flown just over 840 kilometers in a test flight over California — and produced only water as emissions.
Joby Aviation, the company that developed the aircraft, says this successful test flight shows that emissions-free regional travel will be possible in the future.
The aircraft is a prototype hydrogen-powered eVTOL — or "electric vertical takeoff and landing" — aircraft that Joby Aviation is developing for future use as an air taxi.
Designed to carry a small number of passengers, eVTOLs hover and fly in a similar way to helicopters. And because they take off and land by going straight up and down, they don't require a runway.
Joby Aviation had already developed a battery-powered eVTOL aircraft. The new hydrogen-powered prototype uses the body of one of these aircraft, but with the addition of a fuel tank that can hold up to 40 kilograms of liquid hydrogen.
Electricity is generated by a fuel cell system that combines the hydrogen with oxygen from the air. This electricity then powers the prototype's six propellers, with only water and heat as byproducts.
The vehicle also has batteries that are mainly used to give extra power during takeoff and landing. These batteries are recharged by the liquid hydrogen system while in flight.
When the prototype completed its test flight on June 24, it landed with 10% of its liquid hydrogen fuel still in the tank. The fact that it traveled 840 kilometers is significant, because Joby's standard battery-powered eVTOL aircraft can only travel 160 kilometers before its batteries need recharging.
It might not be enough to cross an ocean, but 840 kilometers is more than two-thirds the length of California.
Joby Aviation's CEO JoeBen Bevirt said electric air taxis are already set to "change the way we move around cities" — and hydrogen-powered aircraft could now change regional travel too.
"Imagine being able to fly from San Francisco to San Diego, Boston to Baltimore, or Nashville to New Orleans without the need to go to an airport, and with no emissions except water," he said.
