Elroy Air Tops $2B in Purchase Demand for Chaparral eVTOL With LCI Deal

Firm now boasts orders for more than 900 autonomous cargo drones

Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 10:48 AM ET

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A top down view of Elroy Air's Chaparral C1 aircraft, capable of lifting up to 500 pounds of cargo. [Courtesy: Elroy Air]

Key Takeaways:

Elroy Air has secured over $2 billion in purchase demand for its Chaparral autonomous cargo eVTOL drone, including a significant agreement with LCI to acquire up to 40 aircraft.
The Chaparral is a heavy-lift system, capable of carrying 500 pounds over 300 nautical miles, designed for critical applications like humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and remote logistics due to its vertical takeoff/landing and modular cargo capabilities.
Beyond major last-mile delivery players, Elroy Air is gaining traction, with interest and orders from entities such as FedEx, the U.S. Air Force, and Navy, as it moves forward with expanded flight testing operations.

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Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on FreightWaves.com.

Much attention has been directed toward Walmart, Amazon Prime Air and Alphabet subsidiary Wing’s forays into drone delivery — perhaps rightfully so given some of the things those companies have built in the past. But looking beyond drone delivery’s trio of titanic names, other firms are subtly carving out their own sizable presence in the space.