Advanced Air Mobility Prepares to Take Off
Ground mobility is undergoing a profound transformation driven by distinct, yet converging trends including electrification, software/AI, sharing platforms and autonomous driving. A parallel transformation is impacting air mobility, not only leveraging similar fundamental technologies but also bringing about innovative architectures and propulsion systems. Multiple companies supported by massive funding are developing aircrafts with various form factors, powertrains, ranges and use cases as well as matching ground infrastructure. Advanced air mobility is preparing to take off.
These new modes target mainly urban mobility, in particular across large, congested metropolitan areas, e.g. across Los Angeles or between San Francisco and Palo Alto (where I live), a 10-minute ride in the sky vs. 90 minutes or more for the 50 km on the road when traffic is dense. Other target markets will be regional mobility, urgent medical transportation, tourism and cargo.
Disruption Paths for Air Mobility vs. Ground Mobility
Some of the issues future ground mobility and air mobility are solving for are identical, such as road congestion, global warming and low asset utilization. However, equitable access to mobility will be addressed exclusively by the former for the foreseeable future. For reference, Archer, one of the leading advanced air…
