LYTE Aviation has announced it is developing a 40-seat hybrid electric-hydrogen vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) SkyBus aircraft and an eVTOL SkyTruck variant.
LYTE, which is based in London and Hamburg and describes itself as the "world’s newest advanced air mobility innovator and market disruptor addressing advanced urban mobility and connectivity", said the bus and truck aircraft are "the accumulation of three years" of research and development that resulted in a possibly "game-changing" outcome that could be five times more fuel-efficient than helicopters.
"The SkyBus will offer a range of 1,000 km with a max speed of 300 km/hr, using mainly technology available today. The LA-44 is a hybrid electric tandem tilt-wing design, disrupting other futuristic looking next-gen designs. A full-scale prototype is being planned within 24 months," LYTE said.
“The use of turbine engines will likely remain unavoidable for the foreseeable future, so in order to achieve useful and business-sensible ranges as well as quicker time to market, we have opted for a hybrid, partly electric VTOL," said Freshta Farzam, the company's founder and chief executive, who cited the Rotodyne aircraft of the 1950’s as a "personal inspiration" for the SkyBus and SkyTruck.