Anyone eager to view from high the cityscapes of Guangdong, a province in southern China, may soon be able to do so from the cabin of a flying taxi. On October 13th the Civil Aviation Administration of China（CAAC）awarded a"type certificate", a crucial piece of aviation paperwork, to the world's first electric vertical take-off and landing（eVTOL）taxi. And in case that does not sound futuristic enough, the small two-seater, called the EH216-s, was also cleared to fly without a pilot on board.
The EH216-S is made by EHang, a company based in Guangdong. It looks like a scaled-up consumer drone（无人机）with a passenger bubble mounted on top. Propulsion（动力）is provided by 16 small rotors（转子）, mounted on the tips of eight arms that fold away when the vehicle is not in use, allowing it to park in small spaces.
The CAAC gave its approval after EHang had conducted more than 40,000 test flights, including with volunteer passengers in 18 cities across China. It also subjected the EH216-S to structural analysis and crash tests, and checked its ability to keep flying if one of its rotors fails. Regulators also inspected the wireless network which EHang uses to link its flying taxis to a control centre on the ground. That allows backup pilots to land an aircraft by remote control if there is a problem.
EHang says its pilotless eVTOLs will be quieter than helicopters, their closest cousins, and much cheaper to operate, thanks in part to the ability to swap（交换）out an expensive pilot, for a second paying passenger. Performance, though, will be limited, at least at first. The EH216-S has a range of about 30 km, and a speed of up to 130 kph. The firm thinks that doing away with pilots will make things safer too. A computer's attention never wavers（动摇）. And flying is, in many ways, much easier to automate than driving, for there are fewer obstacles and unexpected situations to navigate.
EHang has ambitions beyond China, too. The firm's closest competitors are Volocopter, a German company, and a pair of Californian firms, Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation. All three are conducting test flights of piloted eVTOLs of various designs.
