Learn about the low-altitude economy and eVTOL in one article

The popularity of low-altitude economy is about to increase again.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Innovative Application of General Aviation Equipment (2024-2030)", which once again triggered the industry-wide concern about low-altitude Economic concerns. Is the low-altitude economy really about to explode? What impact will it have on our lives? In today’s article, Xiao Zaojun will help everyone establish a basic understanding of the low-altitude economy through a question and answer method.

█ What exactly is a low-level economy?

The official definition of low-altitude economy refers to a comprehensive system that is mainly based on civil manned and unmanned aircraft, driven by low-altitude flight activities in multiple scenarios such as manned, cargo and other operations, and radiated to drive the integrated development of related fields. economic form. To explain it in human terms, it is: based on low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles and manned aircraft, for the purpose of transporting people, transporting goods, and special operations, all flight, manufacturing, maintenance (guarantee), and service-related comprehensive The industrial chain can all be classified as a low-altitude economy. The economic scale of the low-altitude economy is extremely huge. According to data, my country’s low-altitude economy will exceed 500 billion yuan in 2023 and is expected to reach 2 trillion yuan in 2030.

█ Low altitude, how high is it?

1000 meters. To be precise, the airspace within a vertical distance of 1,000 meters from the ground level directly below belongs to the category of low-altitude economy.

█ What is eVTOL that is often mentioned in the low-altitude economy?

eVTOL looks a bit similar to VoLTE, but they are completely different things. eVTOL is usually pronounced as "EVTOL", and its full name is electric Vertical Take-off and Landing, which is an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. In other words, it is an electric aircraft that does not require a runway and can take off and land vertically.

Some people call it a "flying car". In fact, it is more appropriately called an "electric helicopter".

eVTOL is an important segment of the future air transportation industry and is currently the hottest track. Compared with traditional helicopters, manned eVTOL has the advantages of pure electric drive, low noise, high cost performance, low cost, easy maintenance, safer and more environmentally friendly, and is regarded as the core of low-altitude economy.

The price of eVTOL is about 1/5~1/10 of that of traditional helicopters.

Representative companies of eVTOL in China: EHang Intelligent, Shide Technology, Fengfei Aviation, Yufeng Future, Volant, Pantuo Aviation, Xpeng Huitian, etc. On February 27, 2024, the world’s first eVTOL cross-sea and cross-city air route made its maiden flight. The eVTOL "Shengshilong" developed by Fengfei Aviation Technology can smoothly fly from the cruise home port of Shenzhen Shekou to Zhuhai Jiuzhou Port Terminal, shortening the one-way ground drive of 2.5 to 3 hours to 20 minutes. This is considered a milestone event for eVTOL.

█ eVTOL, what is the flight altitude?

Currently, those below 120 meters are consumer-grade drones, and the space between 100-300 meters is reserved for industrial application drones. Nowadays, many urban helicopters generally fly at an altitude of about 300 meters, and heavy helicopters are about 450 meters. According to industry estimates, eVTOL is about to rise and will occupy a height of about 300 meters. The existing helicopters will move up, almost to a height of about 600 meters.

█Does eVTOL require a certificate to enter commercial operation?

Of course. Domestic aircraft entering commercial flights require a Type Certificate (TC) and a Standard Airworthiness Certificate (AC) issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The civil aviation field has extremely high requirements for the issuance of airworthiness certificates. The aircraft needs to be tested in all aspects (safety, performance, function, use, reliability). The certificate will not be issued until all are qualified. The entire cycle lasts for several years. Currently, EHang’s unmanned manned aircraft EH216-S is the world’s first “air taxi” to obtain airworthiness certification. It has gone through a total of more than 500 preliminary tests on more than 500 subjects, more than 40,000 adjustment flights, and formal compliance verification tests on 65 major items and more than 450 subjects. This aircraft has a maximum flight speed of 130 kilometers/hour, a flight duration of 25 minutes, and a designed range of 30 kilometers. It has been listed on Taobao, priced at 2.39 million yuan.

█Xiao Zaojun, do you dare to sit in eVTOL?

If it dares to carry me, I dare to sit on it. Actually, I have already sat down. But it didn’t fly, haha. In the past few years, the EH216-S aircraft has completed more than 45,000 safe flights in 14 countries around the world, and is as stable as an old dog. For aviation flight, it has sufficient redundancy design. It can land smoothly even if multiple propellers stop. Also, let me tell you a little trivia——300 meters is a very safe height. When flying at this altitude, even if the engine fails, the rotor will continue to rotate driven by the airflow. Through the autorotation of the rotor, a safe landing can be achieved. So, unless a rocket or missile hits you, you are very safe.

█ Can ordinary people afford eVTOL?

Can afford to sit. On TV, we often see rich people flying in helicopters, which is very cool. 160 million each, one? This kind of helicopter is also available in our city, and there are some tourist experience projects, which cost about 1,000-2,000 yuan. If it is a good plane, it will cost about 10,000 yuan to fly longer and enjoy the city view. The flight price of eVTOL is much lower than that of traditional helicopters. According to predictions by industry insiders, the flight from Shenzhen to Guangzhou costs about 200-300 yuan, which is slightly more expensive than taking a taxi, but the time can be saved several times (2.5 hours by taxi, 25 minutes by eVTOL), making it more cost-effective.

█ Will eVTOL replace civil aviation aircraft?

Won't. eVTOL has its own niche. Its flight distance is limited and it is not suitable for long-distance flights. It is mainly aimed at short-distance travel. It needs to be mentioned here that eVTOL has high requirements for the energy density of power batteries. The energy density of mass-produced electric vehicle power batteries currently on the market ranges from about 140Wh/kg to 200Wh/kg, which is far from meeting the requirements of eVTOL. Currently, 400Wh/kg aviation lithium battery products are mainly in mass production and meet airworthiness requirements. In the future, if we can break through key technologies such as high energy density lithium batteries, high specific power hydrogen fuel cells, high efficiency electric propulsion systems, high thrust-to-weight ratio ducted fans, advanced aerodynamic layout ducted fans, and solar drones, eVTOL will become stronger.

█ eVTOL, when can we get on it?

According to the plan, it is expected that in 2025-2026, a large number of domestic eVTOL companies will be able to obtain airworthiness certificates and be equipped with corresponding operating standards. This also means that at that time, eVTOL gradually began to be put into market operation. Everyone was gradually able to sit down. The method of use is also very simple. Through the mobile app, you can "call the phone with one click".

█ In the low-altitude economy, besides fighting "flying", what else can we do?

There are so many functions. When transporting people, it can generally be used for sightseeing, business flights, and medical emergencies. For transporting goods, logistics transportation and express delivery.

Logistics UAV

There are even more special operations, such as agriculture, forestry and plant protection, high-rise fire extinguishing, geographical surveying and mapping, security patrols, environmental monitoring, power inspections, etc.

Firefighting Drone

█ Is there any low-altitude economy abroad?

It is also available abroad, but the name is different. It is called UAM (Urban Air Mobility) in Europe, and it is called AAM (Advanced Air Mobility) by NASA (Aeronautics and Space Administration) in the United States. In addition, there are IAM (Regional Air Mobility), RAM (Rural Air Mobility), SAM (Suburban Air Mobility).

█ What are the advantages of China’s low-altitude economy? What are the differences?

Let’s talk about the gap first. In traditional aircraft manufacturing, we are inferior to others. Obviously, we started late and others started early. In the entire aircraft industry chain, we are far behind others. Engine, as everyone knows, our aviation engine is not good enough and we have been chasing it. In addition to engines, we are temporarily inferior to our opponents in many aspects such as motors and body materials.

Propeller

Foreign production of traditional aircraft is many times that of ours. The amount of helicopters used by others is many times that of ours (in the New York area alone, there are more than 3,000 helicopters). It is a fact that their aviation industry foundation is stronger than ours. In addition to hardware, they also have more pilots than us. After the end of World War II, 600,000 pilots in the United States changed careers, and basically all entered the field of general aviation, which greatly stimulated the development of the American aviation industry and formed a unique civil aviation flying culture. Domestic transportation in the United States is closely built around highways and aviation. As for China, we will gradually adopt high-speed rail and expressway routes this century. Let’s talk about the advantages. Development started late. One advantage is that it can use more advanced technology. Everyone has seen that many of our drones are multi-rotors. The eVTOL I just mentioned is basically a multi-rotor. Foreign engine technology is good and the single rotor power is high. In the early days, they felt that multi-rotor wastes energy and has low energy efficiency. If it is an electric multi-rotor, it is a waste of electricity. But it turns out that in current working scenarios of drones and eVTOLs, the load capacity is relatively small and the weight is relatively light. This little thing is actually more practical. Our country is developing rapidly in terms of multi-rotors, such as DJI and the EHang I just mentioned. In addition to multi-rotor, our electric vehicles are developing faster. As a result, we have developed technical advantages in the three-electricity (battery, electronic control, and electronic regulation) systems. Our flight control technology has advanced rapidly, and aircraft manufacturing is also working hard. Therefore, we have slowly begun to reverse our previous disadvantages. Our electricity prices are cheap, which is also conducive to the development of the industry. Our commercial operations are also very fast. In Shenzhen, companies such as Eastern General Aviation have initially established a relatively large operating platform that can provide low-altitude aircraft-related services to various users. It not only radiates to the Greater Bay Area, but also extends to the Yangtze River Delta. In the next few years, with the rapid development of the low-altitude economy, relevant low-altitude flight operation companies will appear in more and more provinces, driving the overall development of the industrial chain.

█ What does low-altitude economy have to do with 5G?

Low-altitude economy and 5G are closely related. First of all, safety is extremely important when aircraft are flying in urban areas with high population density. Aircraft need to maintain communication with the ground, aircraft flight status needs to be tracked and fed back, and aircraft routes need to be scheduled, all of which rely on communication technology. 5G is a very suitable communication technology. It has large bandwidth, low delay and high reliability, and can provide communication guarantee for low-altitude flights. Some special-operation aircraft, such as emergency rescue helicopters, require networks such as 5G to transmit the vital sign data of the injured back to the hospital in real time for prompt treatment. There are also drones for forest fire prevention and environmental monitoring, which require 5G for real-time ultra-high-definition image transmission. Now entering the 5G-A era, Xiao Zaojun also introduced before that 5G-A has synaesthesia integration. Synesthesia integration is equivalent to adding a radar function to the base station, which can greatly improve the tracking and management capabilities of low-altitude aircraft, and monitor the position, speed and trajectory of low-altitude aircraft in real time. Okay, the above is some basic knowledge about low-altitude economy and eVTOL. Once you master these, you can have fun blowing water with others! I am very optimistic about the low-level economy. What do you think? This article comes from the WeChat public account: Xian Zao Classroom (ID: xzclasscom), author: Xiao Zaojun

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