Shift Magazine - May 2021 - 10

GM design chief Michael Simcoe shows an eVTOL virtual
concept at CES this year. CEO Mary Barra has said the
flexibility of the automaker's Ultium battery system " opens
the doors for many use cases, including aerial mobility. "

FLYING, continued from p. 9
and that Archer is working closely with
the Federal Aviation Administration to
make certain its product stays on track to
receive its type certificate, an approval that
ensures new aircraft designs and components meet airworthiness standards.
" It's not a technology thing; it's a time
thing now, " he said. " The most important
thing is consumer acceptance. "

UNDERPINNED BY BATTERIES

Electrification may alleviate some of
those concerns. Forget the whumpwhump-whump of helicopters. Electric
aircraft promise to be quiet enough to
allow conversations among passengers
and to not annoy people on the ground.
Driven by billions in investment, batteries
have made substantial advances in the watthours enabled per kilogram, one reason
financial firm Morgan Stanley said in January
that urban air mobility will be commercialized
" faster than we originally anticipated. "
Though there are differences in the
chemistry and packaging requirements for
automotive and aviation applications - vertical takeoff and landing require high power
- electrification achieves familiar benefits:
lower operating costs through fewer parts,
10

less required maintenance, no fuel costs.
But in batteries specifically, and transportation technology generally, differences between automotive grade and
aviation grade remain a potential problem
that could slow synergies between the
two industries.
Indeed, PitchBook's report on urban
air mobility highlights the cautionary tale
of Mitsubishi's difficulty in meeting aerospace requirements in its SpaceJet project, which did not achieve certification
despite billions in investments. But the
allure of high-volume manufacturing at
low costs remains.
" Automotive players know how to crack
the code on affordability, " Hyundai's Cohn
said. " That's something I've watched a lot of
aerospace players try to do and really struggle with over the last couple of decades. "
If there's a convergence of underlying

technology between aviation and automotive, there may be an emotional connection as well. Archer didn't seek an aircraft veteran to lead its design efforts - it
hired Mazda's Julien Montousse to create
vehicles that elicit visceral reactions from
passengers. The company does not want
to make merely a people-moving pod. It
wants its product to be the aviation equivalent of the innovative electric pickups and
SUVs currently proliferating across the
auto industry.
" When I first saw those, the first thought
I had was, 'You could put a surfboard in
there,' " Goldstein said. " I've never surfed,
but that was the emotional reaction I had.
It's the same thing for us. We don't want
to be thought of as a way to get to the airport faster. We want them to think it's a
way to go explore the world. That's what
strikes a chord with people. " n

GETTY

Mitsubishi's SpaceJet failed to achieve certification despite billions in investments.

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Shift Magazine - May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Shift Magazine - May 2021