Small, low-altitude electric air taxis could be the future of transportation, according to Chinese electronic vehicle (EV) experts. However, to bring them to fruition, the science behind the batteries needed to power the vehicles will have to make significant improvements in both reliability and safety.
EVs are already a significant force in the road vehicle market, especially in countries like China, where 51% of new cars sold are electric. While commercial electric planes remain in the prototype stage, low-altitude vehicles are emerging as the forefront of this marriage between aerospace and EVs, in a market with a new set of operating and safety conditions for manufacturers to adhere to.
Electronic Drones and eVTOLS
Flying below 1,000 meters, electronic drones have been considered by companies such as Amazon as a potential logistics solution. For carrying human passengers, electronic vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL) have been proposed as the next major step in urban transportation. Some experts project that by 2030, eVTOLs could be a $30 billion market, with applications including taxis and emergency response vehicles.
The Chinese government began viewing low-altitude vehicles as an important segment of their economy last year, with their 2024 government work report tasking a department to support the sector’s future development. China’s city of Shenzen is taking a major role with ongoing drone deliveries and autonomous air taxis already in the testing phase.
One major benchmark test occurred last year when an uncrewed eVTOL journeyed 50 kilometers in only 20 minutes, between Shenzhen and Zhuhai, a 3-hour trek by car. The eVTOL used in the test has a five-passenger, 2.4-ton capacity and was manufactured by AutoFlight, a company with locations in China and Germany. AutoFlight is not alone, with competitors in North America, Japan, Europe, and elsewhere also entering the low-altitude market.
Power Issues in Air Taxis
While the technology is impressive—and exciting—safety and public trust are major concerns that must be addressed through careful regulation. A team of Chinese experts, including Liqiang Mai, Xiocong Tian, and Yunlong Zhao, writing in Nature, recently proposed several ideas on how this might be accomplished.
First, to avoid more smog-filled cities on the local scale and mitigate climate change on the global scale, renewable electricity should be considered as the primary power source for low-altitude technologies. Conceivably, solar and even wind could power future iterations of eVTOL designs. However, such capabilities are currently limited. Only a few solar-powered drone prototypes exist, such as the AtlantikSolar from ETH Zurich, which flew continuously for weeks using solar power.
While battery technology remains the most reliable and powerful source of electricity, there are significant differences in powering an aerial vehicle as opposed to a ground one. Take-offs require massive short power bursts, eVTOLs are very weight sensitive, and battery failure in mid-air can be deadly. Present EV batteries have too much weight, too little power, and are too sensitive for aviation applications. To move EV batteries toward an aviation-grade, manufacturers must implement multilayer containment, real-time fault detection, and thermal isolation, the experts say.
Creating such batteries requires pushing the bounds of chemistry and material science. While Chinese battery manufacturer CATL has a promising partnership with AutoFlight to develop such a device, other companies are pursuing hybrid vehicles, such as the Electric ELL from Ampere and the ES-30 from Heart Aerospace, both of which are based in California.
Managing Power Regulations
Intense power demand and increased safety concerns will require even stricter regulation than the present EV power systems. The experts say that safety should be the primary concern of any framework addressing eVTOL manufacturing and operation, due to the 3D risks and dangers associated with variable flight conditions. Features that the experts recommend for consideration as mandatory include backup power sources, battery temperature detection, and crash-resistant casing for the batteries to prevent ruptures and fire risk.
On the other hand, experts also recommend specific targets for any potential subsidies. One of the primary areas would be certification and safety testing funding to ensure that these vehicles meet objective standards, followed by a focus on continually tightening those standards under an ongoing technology road map. Additionally, they suggest funding demonstration flight corridors to provide a safe, controlled environment for eVTOL operations.
As with many emerging technologies, the experts recommend that governments be early adopters, allowing the technology room to grow. That could take the form of purchasing eVTOLs for emergency response uses and designating specific “vertiports” from which the vehicles could take off and land.
Finally, they recommend growing to an international collaboration and standardization to avoid slowing innovation and wasting resources on duplicated efforts. The experts hope to see the US Federal Aviation Administration, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China work together to develop standardized practices.
Overall, trusted technology in the years ahead will be more successful than efficient technology, and will altogether help to support the long-term eVTOL economy.
The article, “Air Taxis Will Soon Be in Our Skies — If Batteries Can Be Made Safer,” appeared in Nature on September 2, 2025.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.