AutoFlight and battery developer CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., announced “an exclusive strategic investment and cooperation agreement, a relationship valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.” Uniting these two technological leaders, the agreement provides developmental cash to AutoFlight and a platform for CATL to expand their electric aviation market.
A Trip Across the Yangtze
An August 1 flight across the Yangtze River highlighted how the strengths of this new relationship can grow both companies. Nanjing, an ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, is only one of 29 major cities on either side of the great river. All face the same transportation difficulties. The 5.5 kilometer straight-line distance between Nanjing UAV Base and Yuzui Wetland Park, for instance, “requires a 20 kilometer drive that takes 25 minutes. However, an eVTOL aircraft can cover this distance in just five minutes,” cutting travel time by 80 percent,” according to AutoFlight. Even worse, holiday travelers around popular tourist destinations can slow traffic by a factor of 10.
More important than families tied up in festive traffic jams, the need to hurry accident or medical emergency victims to hospital, or to transport medical personnel to accident or disaster sites becomes critical. Part of the Sustainable Aviation Foundation’s new direction is fighting wildfires that increasingly threaten rural and urban areas. Machines like those from AutoFlight can speed delivery of personnel and equipment to fight these fires.
What will This Relation Mean to CATL and AutoFlight?
According to Environment + Energy Leader, “Following this momentous flight, AutoFlight and CATL have announced an exclusive strategic investment and cooperation agreement valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. This partnership unites pioneers in eVTOL and battery technology, signaling a significant advancement in the sector.”
One wonders at what four-ton aircraft is currently (another pun) being tested by CATL, and what eight-ton craft will follow?
Commitment to Innovation and Safety
Featured Image: AutoFlight founder, chairman and chief executive Tian Yu says his company has received hundreds of orders at home and abroad for its Prosperity I electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Photo: Handout
Your editor last saw Tian when he presented at a symposium in Santa Rosa, California and not only discussed the several fixed wing and multi-rotor projects his then firm Yuneec was working on, but demonstrated his carving abilities, guiding a skateboard powered by small Yuneec motors through the ballroom with a handheld Bluetooth speed controller. The craft and ambitions have grown in the last decade.