Cash Burn Shadows eVTOL Flight Test Gains

In the protracted race for certification, four of the front-running eVTOL developers continue to expand the envelope of their flight-test prototypes. However, while Archer Aviation, Eve Air Mobility, Joby Aviation, and Vertical Aerospace continue to progress with their programs, cash considerations remain an inevitable headache.

First-quarter 2026 results revealed more. While U.S. contenders Archer and Joby are confident of a 2026 entry into service under the federal government’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), the UK’s Vertical and Brazil’s Eve both cautioned that type certification expectations may now slip into 2028. To date, only Joby has made a transition flight of a type-conforming vehicle—something Archer expects later this year, and Eve in 2027. Archer’s adjacent clean-sheet, hybrid-electric defense variant, under development with partner Anduril, will also be revealed later this year.

Cash Considerations

Cash burn remains at the forefront of any prudent developer’s strategy, with this number invariably creeping up quarter by quarter as certification activities intensify. Archer ended the period with $1.8 billion in liquidity, citing spending “in line with guidance.” U.S. rival Joby ended the quarter with $2.5 billion in cash and equivalents, for a spend of $195 million.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Vertical Aerospace CEO Stuart Simpson stressed the difference in budget the British developer was working with. “We’ve delivered more than anyone else spending between 25% and 30% of what they do,” he suggested.

Nevertheless, Vertical’s first-quarter net cash use of $47 million leaves it with around $96 million, which—combined with $30 million of “anticipated near-term receipts from tax reliefs and grants”—means that Vertical could realistically run out of cash in 12 months without fresh investment. The company predicts a spend of around $180 million to $200 million over the next year. With Vertical having ended the quarter with around $103 million, “the board and management are actively reviewing options to maximize the runway from our available capital,” Simpson said.

Despite ending the first quarter of 2026 with what it stated is “a record cash position of $441 million and total liquidity of $578 million,” including $136 million in undrawn credit from the Brazilian Development Bank, Eve is also looking at cost-cutting measures. These include “new potential synergies” with parent company Embraer, including optimization of manufacturing assets and work-share, which are targeting savings of $100 million to $150 million over the next three years. These mitigating measures aside, the Embraer subsidiary expects to have enough cash to support operations through 2028.

Flight Test Progress

Achieving full transition is a milestone moment of any eVTOL flight test campaign. Vertical completed what it termed a “two-way” piloted transition flight of its VX4 prototype in April, with the Bristol-based developer claiming it is now the “second company globally to complete a two-way piloted transition flight in a full-scale tiltrotor eVTOL.” A third fully-electric prototype is set to commence flight testing “shortly” before a hybrid-electric powertrain is installed. However, Vertical has yet to build its Valo type-confirming airframe, something it says is set for early 2027. A critical design review is scheduled for the middle of this year.

While Archer is yet to achieve transition, something expected in the second half of this year, it continues to expand its flight test envelope with its two airworthy examples. Joby, meanwhile, flew the first FAA-conforming prototype it intends to use for type inspection authorization flights later this year. It also made its first full transition flights with an uncrewed turbine-electric VTOL variant.

Following the first flight of its uncrewed engineering prototype in December, Eve’s aircraft has since logged around 2.5 hours airborne over some 60 flights. Eve CEO Johann Bordais explained that although “ground effect behaved somewhat differently [to predictive models], loads remained within expectations,” setting the stage for a transition flight at the start of the third quarter.  A crewed type-conforming vehicle is expected to fly around the middle of next year, subsequently joined by up to five additional test aircraft.

Certification and In-service Expectations

Vertical cautioned that its “prudent approach [to cash burn], coupled with transition taking a few months longer than planned, means that certification by the end of 2028 is under additional risk.” However, citing a three-month delay as “very small” in the context of the overall program, Simpson suggested that “2028 remains the target, and it’s absolutely doable.” Eve’s Bordais also stated that certification and entry into service are now “more likely in 2028, as [Eve will] need to fly [its] conforming vehicles for 12 months to complete all necessary certification tests.”

Archer intends to begin U.S. operations this year under the eIPP. The California-based company said it is finalizing arrangements for cities and routes and collaborating with Vermont-based electric aviation company Beta Technologies on charging infrastructure requirements. Meanwhile, Beta is also developing an eVTOL aircraft, but the company is prioritizing the certification of its Alia CX300 electric airplane. In its quarterly earnings release, Beta reported revenue of $10.1 million and a net loss of $122.3 million, with operating expenses climbing to $138.8 million as the company ramps up research-and-development spending.

Archer states it is working on the details of a “restricted type certification” route (superseding a previous “type qualification” pathway) under which its four-passenger Midnight eVTOL aircraft will begin “limited commercial operation” in Abu Dhabi. However, while Archer CEO Adam Goldstein believes that the opportunity for civil aircraft remains “substantially larger,” the company's adjacent defense-focused activities remain of core interest. “Our defense and AI software efforts are advancing quickly, and they’re opening up an even bigger future for us,” Goldstein said in Archer’s quarterly earnings call with investors.

Believing that “you cannot retrofit your way into the right solution,” Goldstein said a partnership with Anduril is continuing work on the development of a clean-sheet, hybrid-electric aircraft. Archer remains coy on specifics, but suggested that the commercially certifiable platform—“with a very specific speed, payload, and cost target”—is “quite different from Midnight.” This could be unveiled later this year. Goldstein is confident that this as-yet unnamed aircraft is going to be downselected for some “large opportunities coming up in defense” later this year, including potential programs in the U.S. and UK. Goldstein also suggested Archer could first deploy these “autonomous, attritable, dual-use [technologies]” in cargo and defense areas, “then flow these technologies back to future iterations of Midnight.”