EHang this week reported on two new sets of flight trials for its EH216 eVTOL aircraft. The Chinese company said that it had made some short offshore flights from the mainland to Dong Ao island, near the city of Zhuhai. It also said that autonomous aircraft had been flown in sub-zero winter conditions over the frozen Yanqi lake near Beijing.
The offshore flights were intended to demonstrate the potential for the all-electric two-seater to be used for sightseeing trips to locations like Dong Ao, which is part of the Wanshan archipelago in the South China Sea. The island is around 30 km off the mainland, which is close to the current 35 km maximum range of the EH216.
Hong Kong is nearby, but just out of range for the aircraft. However, EHang is reportedly working on a longer-range eVTOL model.
The company sees tourism and sightseeing as a significant market opportunity for the EH216. It is also exploring use cases for urban air mobility services in the densely populated cities of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in southern China.
Further north, near Beijing, the temperatures for the trials were far colder at just -14 degrees C (7 F). EHang, which claims to have conducted more than 10,000 test flights in 42 locations across eight countries, has also evaluated the EH216’s performance in extreme conditions, such as deserts, typhoons, and heavy fog. No passengers were on board for either of the latest flight trials.
