Can you imagine flying between nearby cities and cutting routes by two-thirds compared to ground transportation? Or using an emergency vehicle much faster than an ambulance? The mobility of the future has a lot to do with aerial robots, such as the one that took off these days from the Atlas experimental flight center in Villacarrillo (Jaen), it was the first flight of an electric plane in Spain, and the technology was 100% Spanish.

"In vehicles like this prototype, children will move in the future, which will allow us to ease traffic congestion in big cities," said Carlos Poveda, CEO of Umiles Next, the company that developed the electric vertical takeoff and landing (e-VTOL) aerial vehicle. The plane, which weighs 640 kilograms and has a cabin for six users, has flown smoothly over the sea of ​​olive trees in the province of Jaen, sending a message to managers who design transport policies: air taxis are not a thing of the future, but of the present.

The managers of Umiles Next and Tecnalia, which provided the technology used in the construction of the plane, believe that the certification and approval process of this prototype can be ready in 2028. From there, it can be used for tourist and executive flights, for transport between nearby cities or islands (estimated to be around 100 kilometers) and also for rescue missions. "We can reduce 45-minute trips to 10," said Poveda, whose company forms part of the U-Space project, a European consortium to safely integrate mixed operations in European environments with manned and unmanned vehicles.

But what do we lack then to see these planes fly over our towns and cities? First of all, it is the adaptation of European regulations, which are currently scattered and very strict in terms of aviation security. At the same time, there is still a long way to go to gain the favor of future users. "This aircraft has an important advantage, which is the stability of its cabin, which allows us to fly in conditions with a lot of air and turbulence, which is not possible with a helicopter", explained Iñaki Iglesias, the technical supervisor who illuminated this aerial vehicle. For this purpose, the prototype has four drones in each corner, which give it the necessary stability.

The big challenge for researchers is to move towards more sustainable and smart cities. And in this regard, they believe that the eVTOL is the most sustainable aerial vehicle. "They are electrically powered and zero-emission airplanes, and we work on a circular economy with recyclable materials," emphasized Poveda. Also, there is no noise effect, something that makes it very different from helicopters.