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From Hybrid to Hydrogen: Development and Optimization of Air Taxi Layout Schemes and Propulsion Systems for Urban Mobility Applications Cover

From Hybrid to Hydrogen: Development and Optimization of Air Taxi Layout Schemes and Propulsion Systems for Urban Mobility Applications

Transactions on Aerospace Research
Volume 2025 (2025): Issue 1 (March 2025)
By: Vasyl Loginov,  Yevgen Ukrainets,  Sergiy Shevchenko and  Anton Loginov  
Open Access
|Mar 2025
Figures & tables

Figures & Tables

Fig. 1.

The three primary eVTOL air taxi design configurations: (a) Vectored Thrust, (b) Lift+Cruise, (c) Wingless Multicopter [7].

Fig. 2.

Concepts of aircraft developed by NASA for UAM [10].

Fig. 3.

Vahana project [12].

Fig. 4.

CityAirbus project [12].

Fig. 5.

Model of the 6-passenger serial Lilium Jet [13].

Fig. 6.

The SiriusJet model with variable thrust vector [14].

Fig. 7.

The SiriusJet propulsion system [14].

Fig. 8.

The Pantuo Pantala Concept H project [15].

Fig. 9.

The Bell Nexus 4EX and Bell Nexus 6HX air taxi projects [16].

Fig. 10.

The Kitty Hawk Cora project [18].

Fig. 11.

The VoloCity project [19].

Fig. 12.

The VoloConnect project [19].

Fig. 13.

The Rolls-Royce project [20].

Fig. 14.

The Bartini project [23].

Fig. 15.

The Hepard project [24].

Fig. 16.

The Vy 400 air taxi project [26].

Fig. 17.

The Vy 400R air taxi project [26].

Fig. 18.

The VA-X4 aircraft design [28].

Fig. 19.

The EHang 216 airtaxi project [29].

Fig. 20.

The TENSOR 600X project [30].

Fig. 21.

The Volante Vision Concept [32].

Fig. 22.

The AMPERE project [33].

Fig. 23.

Skai air taxi project [34].

Fig. 24.

Alice airplane design [39].

Fig. 25.

The Joby Aviation aircraft design [40].

Fig. 26.

The E.SAT aircraft project [41].

Fig. 27.

Cassio 2 (VoltAero) project [43].

Fig. 28.

Celera 500L project [45].

Fig. 28.

Celera 500L project [45].

Fig. 30.

Scheme of the airplane for transport (option 1).

Fig. 31.

Scheme of the airplane for transport option 1: the aircraft in transition position from vertical take-off to horizontal cruising flight (a) and process of changing from vertical flight to horizontal flight (b).

Fig. 32.

Scheme of the airplane for transport (option 2).

Fig. 33.

Hydrogen-electric power plant scheme.

Key air taxi design characteristics_

CharacteristicVectored ThrustLift+CruiseWingless
Tilt rotorTilt wingFixed horizontalFixed verticalWingless
Example of air taxiBell NexusAir bus VahanaKitty Hawk CoraCartercopterEHang 216
Speed, km/h288230180282100
Flying Range, km24110098.825635
Seating Capacity42242
Battery Density, kwh504063300110
Cruise Altitude, ft.2501,0003,00010,00010,000

UAV application concepts_

Number of passengers50 nm trips per full charge/refuelMarketTypePropulsion
11 × 50 nmAir TaxiMulticopterBattery
22 × 50 nmCommuter ScheduledSide-by-side (no tilt)Parallel Hybrid
44 × 50 nmMass Transit(Multi-)Tilt WingTurboelectric
68 × 50 nmAir Line(Multi-)Tilt RotorTurboshaft
15 Lift + CruiseHydrogen fuel cell
30 Vectored Thrust Compound
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/tar-2025-0002 | Journal eISSN: 2545-2835
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Language: English
Page range: 27 - 54
Submitted on: Dec 22, 2024
Accepted on: Feb 18, 2025
Published on: Mar 31, 2025
Published by: ŁUKASIEWICZ RESEARCH NETWORK – INSTITUTE OF AVIATION
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year
Keywords:
urban air mobility,
air taxi,
hybrid propulsion,
hydrogen-powered aircraft,
electric motor
Related subjects:
Engineering,
Introductions and overviews,
Engineering, other,
Geosciences,
Geosciences, other,
Materials sciences,
Materials sciences, other,
Physics,
Physics, other

© 2025 Vasyl Loginov, Yevgen Ukrainets, Sergiy Shevchenko, Anton Loginov, published by ŁUKASIEWICZ RESEARCH NETWORK – INSTITUTE OF AVIATION
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 2025 (2025): Issue 1 (March 2025)
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