How Much Will It Cost to Fly on eVTOL Air Taxis?

Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are years away from entering service, but the discussion is already under way about passenger prices.

Thom Patterson

Friday, October 22, 2021 at 12:32 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Initial projections for eVTOL passenger costs, ranging from $2.25 to $11 per mile, are considered optimistic by experts, with realistic estimates placing them closer to premium black car services than basic rideshares.
The eVTOL industry faces significant challenges in commercialization, including the high cost of aircraft, the need for high utilization rates (which conflicts with an on-demand model), the complexity of building both an airline and a manufacturing business, and integrating "end-to-end" ground transportation for passengers.
Hidden costs such as establishing a vertiport network, training specialized pilots, and potential pilot salaries will further influence passenger pricing, likely positioning early eVTOL services for high-end business travelers rather than mass market commuters.
Despite billions in investment, many experts are skeptical about eVTOLs transforming urban transportation broadly, predicting a high rate of company failures and that the technology will more likely disrupt the existing civil rotorcraft industry than create an entirely new era of aviation.

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Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis are years from being commercially available, but that’s not keeping people from asking: How much will passengers be asked to pay to fly on these new aircraft?

Altogether, investors have been betting billions of dollars on eVTOL companies like Joby Aviation, Lilium, Volocopter and others that are promising to build an entirely new form of convenient, safe, and environmentally friendly urban transportation.