The continental scale and geographical characteristics that make Australia different from other countries aspiring to be hotbeds of new electric aircraft are prompting local start-ups like AMSL Aero to take a fresh approach to jump-start the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector. So, the initial all-electric version of its Vertiia eVTOL vehicle is expected, despite the limitations of battery technology, to deliver a range of up to 250 kilometers (156 miles), while a subsequent leap into hydrogen propulsion could quadruple this target to 1,000 kilometers.
The Sydney-based company’s co-founders, Andrew Moore and Siobhan Lyndon, have been working on their Vertiia design since 2017 and aspire to bring what they say will be the world’s most efficient eVTOL aircraft—in terms of energy use and unit economics—to market by 2026, and perhaps earlier for the battery-electric version. Their secret sauce is a seven-meter (23-foot) box wing configuration that they say will deliver aerodynamic efficiency equivalent to that of models with much larger wingspans, as well as the compact scale needed to operate in tight urban spaces.
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