For those who envision taking an air taxi to go from Manhattan to JFK Airport or from the San Francisco Airport to San Jose, California, without having to endure traffic jams or inhale carbon monoxide en route, this vision of the future will come true sooner than expected.
Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is the next urban transportation technology breakthrough. “There are 288 companies in Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft”1. At the heart of an eVTOL aircraft is a heavy battery pack. The amount of energy that can be stored in a battery pack with a reduced mass must be significantly increased before the eVTOL industry can literally take off.
Industry experts agree that “eVTOL aircraft needs a battery system with a gravimetric energy density > 400 Wh/kg”2. For an air taxi to carry more passengers, a battery cell energy density higher than 450 or even 500 Wh/kg will be…
