Joby's hydrogen-electric eVTOL achieves successful 523-mile test flight

Joby described the test aircraft that made the flight as “a pre-production prototype battery-electric aircraft fitted with a liquid hydrogen fuel tank and fuel cell system.” The tank holds up to 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of liquid hydrogen. It feeds a fuel cell system designed and built by Joby subsidiary H2FLY and produces electricity, water, and heat. The electricity powers the six electric motors and charges the reduced-capacity batteries that are also used for additional power during takeoff and landing. After last month’s flight, the aircraft landed with 10% of its hydrogen fuel remaining, according to Joby.

Joby expects to begin commercial operations of its all-electric aircraft in 2025, with plans to integrate the longer-range hydrogen-electric variants into its network later. Bevirt said, “The vast majority of the design, testing, and certification work we’ve completed on our battery-electric aircraft carries over to commercializing hydrogen-electric flight. In service, we also expect to be able to use the same landing pads, the same operations team, and Joby’s ElevateOS software that will support the commercial operation of our battery-electric aircraft.”