EHang

Guangzhou EHang Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd.

Formerly	Beijing Yi-Hang Creation Science & Technology Co., Ltd. Chinese: 北京亿航创世科技有限公司
Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq: EH
Industry	Aerospace, Advanced Air Mobility
Founded	2014; 11 years ago (2014)
Founder	Huazhi Hu, Yifang (Derrick) Xiong
Headquarters	Guangzhou, China (headquarters)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Huazhi Hu
Products	Autonomous aerial vehicles[1] Ghost, Hexacopter, Ehang 184, Ehang 216
Number of employees	233 (2020)
Website	ehang.com

Guangzhou EHang Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. is a company based in Guangzhou, China that develops and manufactures autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) and passenger AAVs^[2][3] which have entered service in China for aerial cinematography, photography, emergency response, and survey missions.^[4]

History

EHang announced^[5][6] the Ehang 184, introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2016, as the world's first AAV capable of carrying passengers.^[7][8]

The company announced plans with Dubai's Road & Transportation Agency in 2017 to launch an autonomous flying-taxi service starting in the summer of 2017, but didn't succeed.^[9][10] The company has also worked on a project with Nevada's Institute for Autonomous Systems for an AAV taxi that can transport a single passenger for up to 23 minutes with the EHang 184.^[11]

In November 2018, an agreement was signed with the city of Lyon, France, to open a research center there. At the same time, a cooperation agreement was concluded with the Austrian aerospace group FACC to further develop, certify and produce for EHang in Europe as well.^[12]

On December 12, 2019 EHang was listed on the NASDAQ with the symbol EH.^[13] On March 18, 2020, EHang decided to go into a strategic partnership with Llíria, a Spanish city, using the marketing term urban air mobility. This includes tourism as well as logistics. The City Council and EHang will also work with the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency. Llíria is the second city in Spain where EHang has an agreement.^[14]

The EH216-S was approved for commercial flights by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in October 2023.

Aircraft

Ghost

Ghost is a quadcopter developed by Ehang in a typical quadrotor layout with a pair of skids as landing gear. However, Ghost has an unusual feature: the rotors are mounted below the tips of the arms, instead of being mounted on top of the tips of the arms like most other multirotors. Ghost is mainly intended for aerial photography missions, and it is controlled by a smartphone. Its complete name is Ghost Intelligent Aerial Robot (Chinese: Ghost智能空中机器人; pinyin: Ghost zhìnéng kōngzhōng jīqìrén).^[15]

Data from mobile geeks^[16]

General characteristics

• Wingspan: 0.35 m (1 ft 2 in)
• Gross weight: 0.68 kg (1 lb)
• Propellers: 4-bladed

Performance

• Maximum speed: 60 km/h (37 mph, 32 kn)
• Endurance: 25 min
• Service ceiling: 914 m (2,999 ft)
• Rate of climb: 2.5 m/s (490 ft/min)

Hexacopter

Ehang Hexacopter is a UAV developed by Ehang and it has not yet been named. The existence of this hexacopter was revealed for the first time to the public when it made its public debut in August 2014 at TechCrunch Beijing.^[17] The yet-to-be-named hexacopter is constructed of carbon fiber composite material with a pair of skids as landing gear. The arms of this hexacopter are curved, as opposed to the straight arms of most multi-rotors currently on the market. The hexacopter is controlled by laptop computer.^[17]

Data from engadget^[17]

General characteristics

• Capacity: 10 kg
• Propellers: 6-bladed

Performance

• Range: 5.0 km (3.1 mi, 2.7 nmi)
• Endurance: 30 - 40 min

EHang 184

EHang 184
Passenger drone
Role	Personal air vehicle PAV
National origin	China
Manufacturer	EHang
Designer	EHang Holdings Limited
First flight	2016[5]
Introduction	2014
Status	Unknown
Primary user	China

The EHang 184 is an autonomous passenger drone capable of reaching over 62 mph (100 km/h). EHang says it started carrying passengers in 2015 and since made 40 journeys till releasing footage in February 2018. In three years, more than 1,000 test flights were conducted, including some "violent" ones with dummies, in storm-force winds, in low visibility, at night and 1,000 ft (300 m) above the ground.^[18] It has eight propellers on four arms and by July 2018, 30 to 40 single pilot EHang 184 have been built.^[19]

Data from Electric VTOL News^[20] and AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY^[21]

General characteristics

• Crew: None (self-piloted)
• Capacity: 1 passenger
• Length: 3.86 m (12 ft 8 in)
• Wingspan: 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in)
• Height: 1.44 m (4 ft 9 in)
• Propellers: 8 2-bladed fixed pitch

Performance

• Cruise speed: 130 km/h (81 mph, 70 kn)
• Range: 16 km (9.9 mi, 8.6 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 500 m (1,600 ft)

EHang 216

The 216 is a two-seater with 16 propellers in a coaxial double-baled design. It has made over 1,000 manned flights by July 2018 and its maximum range flown was 8.8 km (5.5 miles).^[19] It can fly 25 min for a range of 30–40 km (16–22 nmi). The aircraft is targeted for autonomous flying, to be monitored from an EHang or its customer command-and-control center. Austrian aerostructures supplier FACC AG partnered with EHang to certify and produce the aircraft in Europe, within simpler certification requirements for takeoff weights below 600 kg (1,320 lb).^[22]

In October 2018, the CAAC approved initial passenger operations at specific locations to develop urban air taxis regulations. EHang began taking preorders since, for island-hopping and to a Chinese coastal resort for aerial sightseeing within their site. A 1 km (0.54 nmi) shuttle across the river of its home city of Guangzhou should avoid a 30 min drive due to traffic congestion on the downtown bridge. US biotechnology company United Therapeutics, manufacturing organs for human transplants, should test rapid automated delivery from laboratory to hospital by the end of 2019.^[22]

In March 2020, the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority issued a permit for manned test and certification flights. It is the first such approval in Europe.^[23]

On May 27, 2020, EHang obtained the world's first commercial pilot operation approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (“CAAC”) to use EHang 216 passenger-grade AAVs for air logistics purpose.^[24] The EHang 216 received a special flight operations certificate (SFOC) from Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) for test flights in Québec, Canada.^[25]

Data from Electric VTOL News^[26]

General characteristics

• Crew: None (self-piloted)
• Capacity: 2 passengers 260kg
• Length: 5.61 m (18 ft 5 in)
• Height: 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
• Propellers: 16-bladed

Performance

• Maximum speed: 160 km/h (99 mph, 86 kn)
• Cruise speed: 130 km/h (81 mph, 70 kn)
• Minimum control speed: 70 km/h (43 mph, 38 kn)
• Range: 16 km (9.9 mi, 8.6 nmi)

Ehang 216-S

This version expands range to 32 kilometres (20 mi), using a 17 kWh battery. Its cruising speed is 60 mph.^[27]

Firefighting from the air

The EHang 216F is a version that can be used to fight fires from the air, especially in high-rise buildings. The maximum flight height is 600 m, it can carry up to 150 L of fire extinguishing. With a camera the fire is localized independently.^[28]

See also

• Flying car (aircraft)
• List of unmanned aerial vehicles of the People's Republic of China
• List of electric aircraft
• Joby
• Lilium
• Volocopter
• Vertical Aerospace

References

1. "Index". EHang.com. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
2. "EHang Holdings Limited Rings the Opening Bell in Celebration of its IPO". Nasdaq.com. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
3. Nytha, Michael (12 December 2019). "Robo Air Taxi Maker EHang Ends Trading Debut Down a Penny". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
4. Chen, Celia (29 August 2019). "Nerves, waiver, screaming, lift-off, joy: a two-minute test ride in a passenger drone from China's Ehang". Retrieved 22 December 2019.
5. Gruber, Ben. "World's first passenger drone unveiled at CES". Reuters.com. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
6. "First passenger drone makes its debut at CES". The Guardian. Associated Press. 7 January 2016.
7. "World's first passenger drone unveiled at CES". Reuters. 2016.
8. "First passenger drone makes its debut at CES". The Guardian. Associated Press. 7 January 2016.
9. "Chinese startups push into foreign markets". The Economist. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
10. "This MegaDrone Will Be a Self-Flying Air Taxi in Dubai This Summer". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
11. "Drone Taxis? Nevada To Allow Testing Of Passenger Drone". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
12. "Ehang Grows in Europe". evtol.news. Archived from the original on 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
13. "UAV maker EHang strikes out on Nasdaq". asiatimes.com. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
14. "EHang Partners with Llíria of Spain to Expand UAM Pilot City Initiative in Europe". ehang.com. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
15. "Ghost quadcopter". Retrieved Jul 21, 2014.)
16. Nicole (2017-03-17). "Die Ehang Ghost Drone 2.0 VR im Test" (in German). Retrieved Jul 18, 2019.)
17. "Hexadcopter". 11 August 2014. Retrieved Aug 11, 2014.
18. Michelle Toh and Jon Ostrower (February 8, 2018). "People are now flying around in autonomous drones". CNN.
19. "EHang Makes More 184s and 216s". Electric VTOL News. 1 July 2018. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
20. "EHANG Doubles its 184". evtol.news. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved Aug 17, 2019.
21. "EHANG Doubles its 184". aerospace-technology.com. Retrieved Aug 17, 2019.
22. Graham Warwick (Apr 12, 2019). "Ehang Trials Autonomous Passenger Flights Under Special Rules In China". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
23. Brian Garrett-Glaser (2020-03-06). "EHang Receives 'Operational Flight Permit' from Norway CAA". aviationtoday.com. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
24. "EHang | EHang Obtained World's First Commercial Pilot Operation Approval of Passenger-grade AAVs for Air Logistics Uses". www.ehang.com. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
25. Mason, Ryan (29 July 2020). "EHang receives approval from Transport Canada for flight testing in Quebec". eVTOL. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
26. "Ehang 216 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV)". aerospace-technology.com. Retrieved Aug 17, 2019.
27. Shahan, Zachary (2023-10-28). "1st Autonomous, Electric Aircraft In World To Get Approval For Commercial Flights". CleanTechnica. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
28. Mason, Ryan (31 July 2020). "EHang Launches Aerial Firefighting Solution". AerialFIRE. Retrieved 2 August 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Business data for EHang Holdings Limited:
  • Bloomberg
  • Reuters
  • SEC filings
  • Yahoo!