Volocopter this week demonstrated its 2X eVTOL aircraft in Seoul, the South Korean capital. The November 11 event, which was the first crewed public eVTOL air taxi demonstration flight in the Asian country, was witnessed by South Korea’s minister of land, infrastructure, and transport, Noh Hyeong Ouk, along with officials from the German embassy and the European Union delegation.
The five-minute flight in the two-seat, all-electric vehicle was conducted at Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport. It covered almost two miles and reached an altitude of 164 feet and speeds of almost 30 mph. On November 16, the 2X will make another flight at the country’s Incheon International Airport as part of the “Open the Urban Sky” event, which is being organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) to demonstrate the potential for using eVTOL aircraft and drones in new applications including air taxi service and cargo deliveries.
“With MOLIT’s comprehensive K-UAM roadmap, South Korea is well-positioned to achieve the goal of commercializing UAM by 2025,” said Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter. “We are extremely honored to conduct the nation’s first crewed public eVTOL test flight today and prove yet again that the future of air taxis is here and now with Volocopter’s aircraft.”
The 2X is a pre-series model that the German company developed before EASA had defined its special condition requirements for certifying eVTOL aircraft. It is now working to certify the VoloCity production aircraft in 2023, having raised €322 million ($370 million) from investors, including automakers Daimler and China’s Geely.
