EHang receives eVTOL certification in China to begin operations

Urban Air Mobility specialist EHang has announced a major milestone in bringing its all-electric aerial solutions to the sky. Today, the company shared it has received certification from the aviation administration in China, paving the way for commercial eVTOL operations.

EHang Holdings Limited ($EH) is an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) company working to deliver autonomous, eco-friendly intelligent aerial vehicles to all, beginning in China. The company’s lineup currently consists of passenger eVTOLs, logistics and delivery drones, and even aerial media capable of performing choreographed light shows.

Back in the doldrums of 2020, we reported that EHang’s 216 autonomous eVTOL was buying used to transport medical supplies across Hezhou, in China’s Guangxi province. That aerial vehicle could deliver payloads up to 140 kg (309 lbs), delivering a maximum range of 31 km (19 miles).

Following certification for its aircraft cloud system this past August, EHang is celebrating full certification of the EH216-S eVTOL in China, and will soon take to the skies.

According to EHang’s latest news release, it has achieved the eVTOL type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). The certification declares that the EH216-S’s model design fully complies with CAAC’s safety standards and airworthiness requirements and can no conduct passenger-carrying commercial operations.

The CAAC personally issued the certification to EHang during a ceremony held at the CAMIC International Convention Center in Beijing earlier today (see image above). Founder, chairman, and EHang CEO Huazhi Hu spoke to today’s milestone as well:

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to CAAC, the expert team, and all EHang employees for their unwavering dedication. Our self-developed EH216-S passenger-carrying UAV system has finally met high expectation to secure the first TC in the global eVTOL industry, marking a significant chapter in civil aviation history. Embracing the TC as our springboard, we will launch commercial operations of the EH216-S unmanned eVTOLs, prioritizing safety above all. This will enable us to steadily progress towards our strategic goal to be a UAM platform operator, and commit to our mission to enable safe, autonomous, and eco-friendly air mobility accessible to everyone.

EHang states its eVTOLs went through rigorous testing with the CAAC to ensure the safety, airworthiness, performance, functionality, usability and reliability of the EH216-S, validating 500 specific test items and completing over 40,000 test flights. With certification now in place, EHang and its EH216-S eVTOL are ringing in a new era of electric mobility, looking to set new benchmarks for aerial transit and logistics.

While eVTOL aviation airworthiness regulations are still evolving around around the globe, EHang will go down in history as one of the first operators to begin commercial flights in China and perhaps beyond. Check out the EH216-S eVTOL test flight footage below: