The company that took over Uber's air vehicle businessJoby Aviation, earlier announced the completion of its hydrogen-powered electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.Long-distance test flightThe total flight distance was 840 kilometers.
It is powered by a liquid hydrogen fuel cell coupled with an electric motor drive system. After completing an 840-kilometer flight distance test, there was actually about 10% of fuel remaining. At the same time, the only gas emitted to the outside was water vapor, emphasizing that almost no emissions that have an impact on the environment were generated during the entire flight process.
In addition, Joby Aviation has replaced the original battery module with a fuel tank loaded with liquid hydrogen, thereby significantly reducing the weight load of the original battery. The liquid hydrogen combustion drives the generator and drives 6 sets of electric motors, thereby generating lift and forward force through the rotor.
Like traditional fuel vehicles, this electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft is also equipped with a small battery module to facilitate starting at the start, or to use specific power-operated systems during flight, such as electronic instruments and lighting systems, and to replenish their power through a generator.
In theory, an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle designed with hydrogen power will not only reduce the weight of the original battery, but also reduce weight after the continuous combustion of hydrogen fuel. Therefore, it will be more fuel-efficient in the later flight distance and correspond to a longer flight distance.
Joby Aviation expects to begin operating a flying taxi service as early as 2025. Unlike traditional aircraft, Joby's aircraft will not require a long runway for takeoff and landing, but can simply change the direction of its rotors to take off and land in situ. However, the battery system is currently limited to a maximum flight range of 160 kilometers, and it will take some time to recharge before the aircraft can be used to carry passengers again.
Therefore, if hydrogen fuel is used as the power source, the flying taxi service provided by Joby Aviation will be able to fly over longer distances. At the same time, after a single flight mission, it only needs to refuel with hydrogen fuel to quickly resume passenger transportation in a short time.
While battery-powered vehicles are becoming the mainstream design in the vehicle market, companies including Toyota are also considering using hydrogen fuel as a power source for future vehicles. Companies including Universal Hydrogen and ZeroAvia have also considered using hydrogen fuel as a power source for aircraft, but they still face the problem of difficulty in producing pure hydrogen.
Currently, there are two main methods for producing hydrogen: separating the carbon and hydrogen atoms in methane through high-temperature steam, or obtaining high-purity hydrogen through water electrolysis. However, the former produces high-temperature steam through combustion, while the latter requires a large amount of electricity, which in turn has an impact on the environment. Therefore, how to produce large amounts of hydrogen in a more environmentally friendly way has become a difficult problem that many industries must challenge.
Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt believes that with government support in promoting hydrogen energy and environmentally friendly hydrogen production, hydrogen power can successfully transform the application model of electric aircraft.
