Electric Air Taxis: Can They Become Everyday Transport?
In September 2026, Joby Aviation flew piloted electric air-taxi demonstration flights over Dallas-Fort Worth - a real route, under a federal test programme, with no paying passengers aboard. This video asks the question that flight actually raises: is a flying eVTOL the same thing as a working, everyday air-taxi service?
It explains what an eVTOL actually is - tilt-rotor, tilt-wing and lift-plus-cruise designs that take off like a helicopter and cruise like a plane - and why lithium-ion battery energy density, not the motors or the airframe, sets the real limit on range and payload: today's packs hold roughly 150-350 Wh/kg against a developer target of about 500 Wh/kg, not yet achieved by anyone.
It traces why this has failed before: New York Airways' scheduled rooftop helicopter service, running from 1953, ended within days of a fatal 16 May 1977 crash on the Pan Am Building's helipad that killed five people, and a second fatal crash in 1979 finished the company off. It covers Uber's own 2016-2020 attempt, Uber Elevate, sold to Joby Aviation in December 2020 for a $75 million investment on top of an earlier $50 million stake. It sets two 2024-25 European insolvencies - Lilium and Volocopter - against Joby's and Archer's continued progress through FAA certification over the same period.
It explains the FAA's powered-lift certification path (means of compliance, then Type Inspection Authorisation, then full type certification) and contrasts it with China's separate CAAC licensing route, already granted to EHang's autonomous EH216-S in March 2025. It lays 2026's three real but different milestones side by side: Joby's piloted Texas test flights, Archer's stated-but-unconfirmed Abu Dhabi/Dubai launch target, and EHang's actually operating ticketed sightseeing flights in Guangzhou and Hefei. It covers the vertiport network a city needs - landing pads, charging bays and the turnaround time that may limit a network before the aircraft's certification does - plus today's pilot/supervision requirement, noise and weather limits, and Uber's own 2019 operating-cost projection.
Its closing judgement, built from every fact above: 2026 is the year electric air taxis first flew real routes and first sold real tickets in more than one country - genuine progress on every earlier attempt - but no company has yet combined full passenger certification with a routine, affordable, everyday commuting service.
Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
In these topics
Chapters
- A flying taxi lands in Texas
- What an eVTOL actually is
- The battery problem
- Air taxis have failed before
- Uber's abandoned moonshot
- Who is still building, who has collapsed
- Getting a licence to carry passengers
- 2026: the first real flights
- Building the network around the aircraft
- Flying safely over a city
- Doing the sums on a ticket
- Flying aircraft versus a working network
Sources and credits
Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons)
- Joby Aviation experimental eVTOL aircraft, ground test at Edwards AFB, Sept 2023 (US Air Force photo): Harlan Huntington, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJoby_Aviation_S4_experimental_eVTOL_aircraft_at_Edwards_AFB.jpg
- Joby Aviation air-taxi aircraft preparing to take off near NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, March 2025 (NASA photo): NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center / NASA/Genaro Vavuris, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANASA_and_Joby_Research_Near_NASA%E2%80%99s_Armstrong_Flight_Research_Center_%28AFRC2025-0051-50%29.jpg
- Joby Aviation eVTOL test aircraft and executives at Edwards AFB maintenance shelter opening, Sept 2023 (US Air Force photo): Richard Gonzales, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AEmerging_Technologies_Integrated_Test_Force_Takes_Delivery_of_First_eVTOL_Aircraft_%282003314786%29.jpg
- Lithium-ion battery packs installed in NASA's all-electric X-57 research aircraft, 2022 (NASA photo): NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center / NASA/Lauren Hughes, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AX-57_Battery_Packs_Installed_in_Aircraft_%28AFRC2022-0131-04%29.jpg
- Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, aerial photograph (public domain): NASA, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADfw_airport.jpg
Primary sources
- AVweb, 'Joby Sets September Start for Texas eIPP Flights' (10 Sep 2026); Northeast Times and santacruzworks.org follow-up reporting on the 10-14 Sep 2026 Dallas-Fort Worth campaign.
- Travel Tomorrow / insideflyer and lowaltitudeeconomy.aero, 'The FAA Certification Race Enters the Endgame For Joby And Archer' - Archer's means-of-compliance acceptance (~Jan 2026) and UAE/Abu Dhabi Investment Office framework and stated 2026 launch target.
- electrek.co, 'Chinese eVTOL operator EHang nabs approval for paid commercial operations' (31 Mar 2025); nextgov.com and CompositesWorld reporting on EHang's March 2026 ticketed flights in Guangzhou and Hefei, and the reported Shenzhen-Hong Kong route.
- MIT AeroAstro WorldWide eVTOL Roadmap database (roadmaps.mit.edu) - current lithium-ion energy density (150-350 Wh/kg) and the ~500 Wh/kg developer target, checked 6 and 11 October 2026.
- thisdayinaviation.com, '16 May 1977'; Gothamist, 'In 1977, Five Were Killed In Helicopter Accident Atop Midtown's Pan Am Building'; thepointsguy.com; aviation-safety.net record 14207 - New York Airways, 1953-1979.
- Joby Aviation press release, 'Joby Aviation Welcomes New $75M Investment From Uber As It Acquires Uber Elevate' (8 Dec 2020); TechCrunch, 'Uber sells air taxi business Elevate to Joby Aviation' (8 Dec 2020); santacruztechbeat.com follow-up.
- electrive.com/electrive.net, 'Insolvent air taxi startup Lilium to be liquidated' (23 Dec 2024 / 21 Feb 2025) and Volocopter insolvency reporting (3 Mar 2025); airmedandrescue.com, iotworldtoday.com, eenewseurope.com and cio.de on Volocopter's insolvency and reported restructuring.
- Vertical Magazine, reporting Uber's own 2019 published eVTOL unit-economics estimate (~$700/flight hour, ~35% below a comparable helicopter).
Not regulated financial advice.