China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair to open on Thursday

The 9th China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair, which is to kick off on Thursday, will display a lot of new technologies, with one of them being a Chinese-made five-seater electric aircraft.

The aircraft is scheduled to make its maiden flight in the second half of this year and it has already received pre-orders for over a hundred jets.

As one of the highlight exhibits to be presented at the fair, the aircraft, developed by Chinese tech company Shanghai TCab Technology Co, can travel a maximum distance of 200 kilometers and has a cruising speed of up to 260 kilometers per hour.

“Our company’s first five-seater E20 eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft will roll off the assembly line on Friday, and this manned aircraft will complete ground tests and take its maiden flight in the second half of the year,” said Huang Yongwei, founder and CEO of TCab Technology.

He painted a future vision, where people will be able to fly from Shanghai to Suzhou in less than 20 minutes on the electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

The aviation industry is rapidly entering the era of electrification.

The E20 eVTOL, the latest generation of TCab’s aircraft, has a cabin space similar to that of a daily business car. Its most distinctive feature is its shape – six rotors distributed at both ends, all of which can rotate simultaneously during takeoff to provide a lift. And when cruising altitude is reached, the four rotors on the wings tilt 90 degrees to work like a propeller plane, while the middle two rotors remain stationary after takeoff.

“It combines the advantages of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, and can take off and land vertically without a runway,” Huang noted.

More eye-catching is its pure electric power system. With four battery packs embedded in the wing structure, the pure electric propulsion system has a range of 200km, which can become a supplement for short-distance intercity travel of 30km to 150km.

The eVTOL industry in China has entered an explosive period since 2021, when TCab Technology was founded. With independent intellectual property rights in the product design and development, the aircraft is expected to achieve commercial use within the next three years.

Although there is still time for its commercial use, the company has already received orders for over a hundred aircraft from operators.

According to Huang, for the first phase, it is expected to replace the low-altitude tourism market of helicopters; in the second phase it will focus on short-distance transportation from 30km to 150km; and the ultimate aim is to serve everyone in the third phase.

“After mass production, our product’s service pricing can be close to taxis, while saving 80 percent of travel time,” he pointed out in showing great confidence in the company’s products.

The 9th China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair runs through Saturday.