Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developers Archer Aviation and Boeing-owned Wisk Aero have reached a settlement to resolve federal and state litigation between them. Wisk filed the lawsuit, which alleged that Archer misappropriated trade secrets and infringed on Wisk’s patents, in April 2021. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Along with resolving their legal differences, the companies report that they have now entered into a collaboration that “looks forward to the growth and development of the AAM [advanced air mobility] industry.” As part of the agreement, Wisk will become the exclusive provider of autonomy technology for any future variants of Archer’s eVTOL design. In addition, Boeing is investing an undisclosed amount aimed at supporting the integration of Wisk’s technology and Archer’s aircraft.
Archer unveiled the production version of its Midnight eVTOL in November 2022. Archer says Midnight will seat a pilot and four passengers, have a range of up to 100 miles, cruise at up to 150 MPH and carry a payload of around 1,000 pounds. An earlier version, called Maker, completed its first hover flight in December 2021.
Wisk introduced its sixth-generation autonomous air taxi in October 2022. The four-seat sixth-generation model is expected to cruise at 120 knots and have a range of 90 miles with reserves. The company reports that it has conducted over 1,600 test flights with its eVTOL designs to date.
BIG yawn … zzzZZZ !
Meanwhile, in other similarly useless news, just days after receiving permission to operate autonomously, 10 driverless e-cars operating like robo taxis were stalled in San Francisco because they lost connectivity due to too many people using their smart phones at a nearby concert. But don’t worry … autonomous eVtol taxis won’t have that problem (sic).
“Wisk introduced its sixth-generation autonomous air taxi in October 2022” – what are their criteria for defining a “generation”? Obviously not deployment and use.
Capt. Kirk: I’m curious, Doctor. Why is it called M-5 and not M-1?
Dr Richard Daystrom: Well, you see, the Multitronic Units 1 through 4 were not entirely successful. This one is.
OUTSTANDING!
Evtols or whatever other acronym these things are called, imho, are, at best, going to be used by an elite few flitting about in an urban area because they are too busy (or self important or otherwise insulated from the “commoners”) to take public transportation like the masses. I’m still not convinced that highways in the sky, stacked up like so many straws, will come to pass. I, for one, would not appreciate swarms of these things flying over my house in a manner not unlike swarms of flies or mosquitoes…just saying…and, remember, humans in financial markets do weird things…as in the Dutch Tulip Mania in the 17th century, and other market bubbles (and ensuing collapses).
“Those contraptions are noisy, slow, and totally impractical” stated the Mayor of the town of Ignorance. The contraption he was referring to is know as an automobile, a recent invention that some say will revolutionize travel across our great Country. Mayor Huffinpuff further stated that “a good horse will travel farther, over rougher terrain, and costs much less to buy. Its is a damn sight more reliable as well.”, he said. The builder of the automobile, Mr Duryea, who had delivered the automobile from his factory up north said Mr Huffinpuffs comments were not uncommon, but ill informed. “The day is coming when automobiles will be three times as fast as a horse and travel hundreds of miles in a day”, Mr Duryea said. “They are definitely the future of transportation” he concluded. “Nonsense”, scoffed Mayor Huffinpuff as he stomped off across the the street and almost fell when he slipped on a pile of horse manure lying in the street. “Somebody needs to clean this up”, he yelled at nobody in general.
I think the angry naysayers are taking these stories way too literally. Boeing knows the odds of getting an evtol carrying passengers in any reasonable environment is decades, if not forever, away. But, getting an automated aircraft that can carry several hundred pounds of cargo to troops in the field without needing to carry specialty aviation fuel or needing an airstrip? Now that’s valuable. Who cares if the batteries require charging, can only fly 30 miles, or the craft will never be FAA certified?
You may well be right, Steve. Boeing can’t seem to get anything right anymore on its own so … why not collaborate with a company that is successful. Steal their secrets, get into a lawsuit then settle and dance all the way to the bank. Sweet.
One of the more intelligent comments I have seen on this subject.
I agree, specially because there are, unfortunately, very, very, very small intelligent (not to say dumb or very dumb) comments we read here everyday.
“Angry”? The only bent-out-of-shape commenter is the one who tried to compare apples to h*rsesh*t.