Interview with Voliflyer: The eVTOL industry is generally still in a race for R & D and certification, and the competition for commercialization will only start after 2026 | Industry Exclusive Interview
Text | Liu Jingqiong, A Zhi
Editor | A Zhi
Cover Source | Provided by the enterprise
More than half a month ago, Volflyer Aviation brought the AE200's brand - new designed cockpit, the Smart and Flexible Cockpit, which was co - produced with Fuwei Group, to the 2025 International Low - altitude Economy Expo (2025 AAME). Although it was the first edition of the expo, there were still many popular manufacturers and main products in the low - altitude economy field at the site.
Since this year, the National Development and Reform Commission has proposed the development strategy of "cargo - carrying first, passenger - carrying later" for the low - altitude economy. Many aircraft manufacturers are busy launching cargo - carrying models. Besides competing in range and flight time, they have also started to compete in load - carrying capacity. Volflyer Aviation is one of the few manufacturers that have chosen to self - develop tilt - rotor configuration passenger eVTOLs since its establishment and were the first to introduce the intelligent cockpit, a core configuration element in the new - energy vehicle market competition, into passenger aircraft.
"We have applied the mature intelligent interaction system and ergonomic design from the automotive industry to the eVTOL. We added intelligent elements such as the Flexible Center Island, Cloud Seats, Sky Light System, and Smart Air Manager to the AE200's cockpit, greatly improving the cockpit's comfort." According to the on - site introduction by Guo Liang, the CEO and Chief Scientist of Volflyer Aviation, this cross - border cooperation between Volflyer Aviation and Fuwei Group is also the first attempt by a domestic low - altitude economy aircraft manufacturer to apply automotive interior and cockpit elements to passenger eVTOLs.
In addition to the newly released Smart and Flexible Cockpit, the mass - production configuration aircraft of Volflyer Aviation's AE200 was also exhibited on - site. The AE200 is currently the only eVTOL product in Volflyer Aviation's portfolio. It uses a pure - electric power system with semi - solid batteries and adopts a "tilt - four - rotors - inside - eight - axes" tilt - rotor configuration, which allows it to take off and land without a runway. The aircraft is equipped with a 3 - row, 4 - 6 - seat flexible layout cockpit. The seats in the third row use electric seat cushion folding technology, enabling it to switch freely between passenger - carrying and cargo - carrying modes. The aircraft has a range of up to 200 km and a cruising speed of 248 km/h, and is mainly used in three scenarios: low - altitude cultural tourism, low - altitude transportation, and emergency rescue.
Volflyer Aviation's AE200 mass - production configuration aircraft
2025 marks the fifth year since Volflyer Aviation was founded. The company has grown from a few people at the beginning to nearly 600 people now, covering multiple sectors such as R & D, production, and operation management. Currently, Volflyer Aviation has received hundreds of letter - of - intent orders from Hualong Airlines and ICBC Financial Leasing, and has established strategic partnerships with Sichuan Airlines Group, CITIC Ocean Helicopter, Gansu Aviation Investment, etc., to jointly explore the implementation of the AE200's operation scenarios.
As one of the earliest domestic passenger eVTOL models to initiate the airworthiness application, the airworthiness certification progress of the AE200 is 1 - 2 years ahead of the industry average cycle. Among the top ten global eVTOL R & D enterprises listed in Aviation Week, Volflyer Aviation ranks first in terms of overall R & D and certification speed. Take Joby, another listed company, as an example. It started designing its configuration around 2015 and took 10 years until 2025 to reach the fourth stage of airworthiness certification, while Volflyer Aviation completed the same process in less than five years.
The rapid development also benefits from the support of its major shareholder, Geely.
Different from traditional startups that start from scratch, Volflyer Aviation is the core business carrier of Geely Technology in the low - altitude transportation field. Since its establishment, Geely has continuously provided strong support to Volflyer Aviation in terms of supply chain, operation ecosystem, and resources. For example, in terms of design and manufacturing, the cockpit, electric drive system, and charging system of Volflyer Aviation's AE200 eVTOL are deeply coordinated with Geely's automotive supply chain.
Volflyer Aviation's AE200 Smart and Flexible Cockpit
Fei Lan, the co - founder of Volflyer Aviation, mentioned, "As a leading domestic automobile manufacturer, Geely brings us not only an understanding of transportation, advanced production experience, and the reuse of the existing automotive and aviation supply chains, but also the traffic introduction from Geely's mobility platforms. These are the significant differences between Geely as an industrial capital and other financial investments, and exactly what Volflyer Aviation needs the most."
Standing on the shoulders of Geely, Volflyer Aviation has reached the forefront of Chinese eVTOL enterprises in less than five years.
According to incomplete statistics, after the first year of the low - altitude economy in 2024, the number of Chinese eVTOL aircraft manufacturers has exceeded 30, almost doubling compared to before 2024. As more and more manufacturers enter the market, there has been a divergence in the choice of power systems in the industry, with multiple factions such as "pure - electric", "hybrid", and "hydrogen - electric hybrid".
"Volflyer Aviation is currently focused on pure - electric power, mainly considering the current domestic infrastructure and subsequent support. Thanks to the foundation laid by the new - energy vehicle industry, the domestic infrastructure for pure - electric power is more complete." Regarding the debate between pure - electric and hybrid power, Fei Lan believes that "from the perspective of current materials science, when an aircraft flies four or five hundred kilometers, the level of battery materials will reach a bottleneck. If eVTOLs want to cover all commercial application scenarios, the range should basically reach 800 kilometers or more. Therefore, hybrid power definitely has its place. However, I think hybrid and pure - electric power will complement each other. In the future, with the continuous development of battery technology, the endurance of pure - electric eVTOLs will also improve."
In terms of commercialization, Volflyer Aviation chose to develop a tilt - rotor configuration passenger eVTOL from the start. This means greater design difficulty and a much longer R & D and commercialization cycle compared to cargo - carrying eVTOLs, but the founding team never considered going back to develop cargo - carrying models.
"Developing passenger models is to meet people's travel needs, and travel needs are more expensive than freight needs. For example, if I'm in a hurry to go somewhere or I'm not in a rush but want to go comfortably, I'll have to pay a higher ticket price. But if I want to quickly get something to eat or use, I'll just pay the express delivery fee." Fei Lan explained. Ultimately, Volflyer Aviation values the higher - priced air ticket fees rather than air express delivery fees, as the former is one price level higher than the latter.
Below is a dialogue between 36Kr and Guo Liang, the CEO and Chief Scientist of Volflyer Aviation, Fei Lan, the co - founder, and Tu Qiang, the Chief Product Officer. The content has been edited and organized:
None of the mainstream configurations can achieve rapid commercial return in the short term, but the tilt - rotor configuration offers the greatest long - term return
36Kr: What are the most important new developments for Volflyer Aviation this year?
Fei Lan: First of all, we will officially start the manned flight tests of the AE200 this year. From the end of the third quarter to the fourth quarter, the AE200 will conduct intensive manned flight tests, aiming to make the AE200 the first domestic 6 - seat eVTOL product to complete manned flight tests. After all the core testing work is completed in 2025, the AE200 is expected to obtain airworthiness certification in 2026.
Another new development is the release of the AE200 Smart and Flexible Cockpit in July. The Smart and Flexible Cockpit uses a new - generation environmentally friendly aviation flame - retardant material, is equipped with aviation - grade safety seats and restraint systems, widely adopts flexible edging and rounded - corner designs in the cabin, and integrates NVH noise - reduction and shock - absorption technology and the concept of an intelligent cockpit, combined with various innovations such as the Flexible Center Island, Cloud Seats, Sky Light System, and Smart Air Manager, ensuring safety while also making the pilots and passengers "more comfortable".
36Kr: Why spend so much time researching to make the eVTOL "comfortable to sit in"? Is this related to Volflyer Aviation's positioning?
Fei Lan: Yes, Volflyer Aviation is positioned to provide the market with a safe, economical, and comfortable air transportation vehicle.
36Kr: How do these keywords manifest in Volflyer Aviation's product design?
Guo Liang: Safety is the primary consideration when Volflyer Aviation designs aircraft. You may not know that the configuration of the AE200 has changed once. The initial version had four tilt - rotors in the front + four lift - rotors in the back, and now it has changed to the "tilt - four - rotors - inside - eight - axes" configuration, that is, four tilt - rotors in the inner layer + four lift - rotors in the outer layer. In this way, even if the tilt - rotors of the aircraft malfunction or fail in the air, the pilots can safely and smoothly land the aircraft with the four lift - rotors in the outer layer.
Economy is reflected in our overall cost control. Taking a flight of about 15 minutes as an example, the price of a helicopter seat is about 2,000 yuan. After popularization, we can reduce the price of taking an eVTOL to about 1/3 - 1/5 of the helicopter price, which is 2 - 3 times the price of a ground limousine, but the flight time is only 1/5 of the ground travel time.
As for comfort, we want the AE200 to be a useful air transportation vehicle. In the long run, we must balance performance and comfort. The Smart and Flexible Cockpit is our attempt to improve comfort.
36Kr: Are there any manufacturers with a similar positioning to Volflyer Aviation in the market?
Fei Lan: In terms of product positioning, we haven't seen any exactly the same. In terms of technology, there are, because the AE200 uses tilt - rotor technology, which is also adopted by foreign companies such as Joby and Archer.
36Kr: Many domestic eVTOL manufacturers have chosen the multi - rotor or compound - wing technology route. Why did Volflyer Aviation decide to use the tilt - rotor technology route from the start?
Fei Lan: Before Volflyer Aviation was established, we were engaged in industrial drones and were very familiar with the compound - wing configuration. Although it can be put into use more quickly, we also saw its shortcomings.
When Volflyer Aviation was founded, Joby had already started test flights. In terms of aircraft performance, subsequent maintainability, and passenger experience, everyone generally agrees that the tilt - rotor is relatively the best, although the technical difficulty is high. In addition, we saw that none of the several configurations could achieve rapid commercial return in the short term. So why not choose a configuration (tilt - rotor) that we are capable of developing and that offers better future returns?
36Kr: Volflyer Aviation has had a good financing situation in recent years, but the commercialization cycle of tilt - rotor aircraft is very long. How do you plan for the revenue during this period?
Fei Lan: Volflyer Aviation is currently mainly in the R & D stage and is open for financing. Sales started at the beginning of this year, and the market feedback has been good so far.
36Kr: What is the biggest difficulty in the process of self - developing the AE200?
Tu Qiang: The difficulty lies in the design of the tilt - rotors, which need to meet all flight and passenger - carrying requirements. Since our rotors tilt during flight and have various postures from 90 degrees to 0 degrees, each posture must meet the flight and passenger - carrying requirements.
In addition, since the AE200 is a brand - new aircraft model, the Civil Aviation Administration requires the safety level of the AE200 to be one order of magnitude higher than that of fixed - wing aircraft and helicopters of the same level. Generally, passenger aircraft are designed according to the standards of Part 23 (normal aircraft) and Part 27 (helicopters) of civil aircraft, and their safety requirement is one in ten million (10^ - 7), that is, there can only be one catastrophic failure in 10 million flight hours. The Civil Aviation Administration requires the safety level of the AE200 to be one in a hundred million.
36Kr: What is the relatively clear development direction for the AE200 in the next step?
Fei Lan: In terms of technological iteration, first, with the development of battery technology, batteries with higher energy density, or even all - solid - state batteries, will emerge to support the aircraft to increase its endurance. Second, for the aircraft itself, we will make corresponding preparations for its application in emergency rescue and plateau scenarios.
In terms of production, the first - phase project of Volflyer Aviation's global headquarters base in the Future Science and Technology City of Chengdu High - tech Zone will complete the infrastructure construction and topping - out work by the end of 2025. At that time, the base will initially have the capacity to produce 40 - 50 AE200s per year. In 2026, Volflyer Aviation will start the small - batch production of the AE200.
In terms of the market, Volflyer Aviation will accelerate the application of the AE200 in cultural tourism, transportation, and other fields, and strengthen the cooperation with the upstream and downstream industries of the low - altitude economy.
