Eve Air Mobility now has sufficient funding to support its eVTOL program through 2027, taking its cash runway beyond 2026, when it expects to start delivering the four-passenger aircraft. The Embraer spin-off confirmed on Sunday that an additional $1.6 million capital injection from Space Florida agreed upon last week took the total for its latest funding round to $95.6 million.
During a press conference held at the Farnborough Airshow site, the company also reported it has a full complement of key suppliers, with a pair of new partners announced. Diehl Aviation will design and produce the eVTOL vehicle’s cabin interior and ASE will supply power distribution systems.
In a video presentation filmed a few weeks ago at its test facility in Gaviao Peixoto in Brazil, Eve showed how it rolled out the first full-scale prototype of the eVTOL vehicle. The uncrewed aircraft will start remotely piloted flight tests later this year to validate the technology in hover, transition, and cruise modes.
The Eve aircraft, with a U-shaped empennage, features eight sets of motors and propellers to support vertical flight, as well as a fixed wing and an electric pusher prop to support cruise flight. Unlike some other eVTOL designs, neither the propulsion units nor the wing tilt during the transition between vertical and horizontal flight.
Eve’s chief technology officer Luiz Valentini, said that meeting the target to start flight testing this year posed “a big challenge” for his team. While the first prototype has the same dimensions as the production model it is not production-conforming.
The company aims to start building the first conforming prototype at Embraer’s São José dos Campos facility by the end of 2024. At the start of 2026, it intends to have five of them built and available for flight testing that can earn type certification credits.
The company also reported it now has signed a full complement of key suppliers, reaching agreements with 22 different companies since the Paris Airshow in June 2023.
Germany-based Diehl Aviation will design the unnamed eVTOL vehicle’s cabin interior for a variety of applications that could include air taxi services, freight deliveries, and emergency medical support. Bordais said the plan would require the flexibility for quick changes to the cabin configuration.
ASE will develop and produce primary power distribution systems for both high and low voltages, and also the high voltage converter that will connect the two systems. The Italian company has developed electrical power systems for multiple aircraft types.
Eve said it now holds letters of intent for 2,900 of its battery-electric eVTOL aircraft, which it expects to operate on routes of up to around 52 nm. So far, 30 different prospective operators plan to start operations in multiple locations worldwide. The manufacturer will support those customers through service and operational centers in 12 locations across eight countries and has signed 16 customers for its Vector urban air traffic management system.