World's first eVTOL type certificate
2023-10EHang
China's CAAC certified the autonomous EH216-S — the first passenger eVTOL type certificate anywhere.
All fields
Air Taxis (eVTOL)
How close are electric air taxis to carrying passengers at scale?
Live Updated 2026-04
Distance to goal
The single most intuitive view — current position against the end goal, on a log scale.
FAA type-certification stage
Metric detailnow
4
Joby Aviation
goal
Stage 5 (certified)
~0.1 orders of magnitude to go
Headline indicators
Who leads
Standings by actor, within this field only.
Milestone timeline
Clear-cut events: crossed or not crossed.
5 achieved 0 in progress 1 locked
First European eVTOL nears certification
2025Volocopter
After insolvency and a Wanfeng buyout, Volocopter resumed its EASA path with 2,000+ test flights logged.
First piloted flight between two airports
2025-08Joby Aviation
Joby flew a piloted eVTOL air taxi from Marina to Monterey — the first such flight between two public airports.
FAA Stage 4 of 5 completed
2026-03Joby Aviation
Joby cleared the FAA's airworthiness conformity review — the most advanced US eVTOL certification position.
First point-to-point eVTOL flights in NYC
2026-04Joby Aviation
Joby flew between JFK and Manhattan's heliport network, demonstrating the urban air-taxi use case.
Scaled, profitable passenger service
~ 2026+—
Certified, routine, paid air-taxi service at scale — Joby targets a Dubai launch in 2026, but at-scale economics are unproven.
Related news & analysis
Analysis 2026-04-22
Will air taxis run out of runway before takeoff? eVTOL leaders are pre-revenue and burning cash toward certification. Joby and Archer have raised billions and look funded; many European rivals already went bankrupt. Our read on who has the runway. (Our opinion, not investment advice.) Explainer 2026-04-15
Piloted vs autonomous, long vs short hop Air-taxi makers are not building the same vehicle. Joby and Archer bet on piloted, ~100-mile aircraft; EHang and Volocopter fly shorter, often autonomous hops. The range spec reveals the strategy. Explainer 2026-04-08
The 5 stages of air-taxi certification An eVTOL can fly thousands of test flights and still not be allowed to carry a paying passenger. The gate is FAA type certification — a five-stage process — and it, not flashy demos, is the real finish line. i
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