World's first unmanned flying taxi goes on sale

Photo shows the EH216-S, an unmanned passenger-carrying flying taxi independently developed by Chinese company EHang. (Photo provided to Chinanews.com)

The EH216-S, the world's first unmanned passenger-carrying flying taxi to obtain a certificate of airworthiness, independently developed by Chinese company EHang, was made available for purchase on an e-commerce platform on March 18.

The aircraft, priced at 2.39 million yuan ($332,000), is now undergoing global commercial trial operations.

The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft doesn't need a runway and can carry two passengers up to 30 kilometers at 130 kilometers per hour. It measures 6.05 meters in length, 5.73 meters in width, and 1.93 meters in height.

Powered by 16 propellers, the EH216-S operates fully autonomously in low-altitude airspace. It is controlled via a ground command and dispatch system, which enables multiple aircraft to operate at the same time.

A key safety feature of the aircraft is that every critical component has multiple backups, fully ensuring stable and safe flight even if certain parts malfunction.

"It's quite different from traditional helicopters," said He Tianxing, vice president of EHang.

"Our professional teams will assist buyers with airspace authorization, flight route planning, maintenance, and engineer training," He said.

Another long-range model, launched by EHang on the same e-commerce platform, the VT-30, featuring a flight range of 300 kilometers, has completed its configuration verification and test flights, according to a credible source. It will apply for airworthiness certification this year.