Mint DIS 2023 I Air Taxis may be $200 billion market in India alone: The ePlane Company

Even though flying taxis have been discussed world over, an Indian company is looking to take to the skies with an electric taxi called eVTOL. Speaking at the Mint Digital Innovation Summit on June 9, Divya Manchanda, chief of airworthiness at The ePlane Company, said that an average Indian spends three years stuck in road traffic during their lifetime, and in turn contributes about 54 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere. 

The Chennai-based startup is building air taxis that "reduce commute time by 10x at just 2x times the cost of regular taxi fare", claimed Manchanda. She added that the industry for air taxis could be worth close to $1 trillion globally and $200 billion in India alone. The company competes with global firms like Joby and Archer from the United States, and Volocopter in Germany.

Incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), The ePlane Company was founded by Satya Chakravarthy, a professor at the aerospace department at the institute. The company's marquee product is the e200 two-seater (a pilot and a passenger) electric air taxi, with a payload carrying capacity of 200 kg. 

“These aircraft are called eVTOL, short for Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft. It means that these aircraft take off and land vertically like a helicopter and fly horizontally like an aircraft. They don’t require a runway and can pretty much take off and land from anywhere,” said Manchanda.

She claimed that the company's product can also solve key challenges in urban commute — slow speeds and compact size. “We have been able to achieve this IP. It's the most compact five-meter by five-meter aircraft and it can fly at the slow speed of 160 kilometers per hour. Also, this aircraft can do multiple short hops on a single charge.” 

The eVTOL air taxi can be boarded from the top of multi-level car parking or a metro station, according to Manchanda.

There are UAV or unmanned aerial vehicle models as part of ePlane’s subscale prototypes – e6, e50, and e100, with a payload capacity of 6 kg, 50 kg, and 100 kg, respectively. They are built for applications like mid-mile logistics. 

Last month, the company announced that it has received the design organisation approval (DOA) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and claims to be the first Indian company to receive a DOA for electric aircraft. The company plans to carry out its first commercial launch in 2025, of the e200 air taxi.