EHANG 184 passenger drone completes new manned test flights

The EHANG 184 autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) has completed a new round of manned flights in a series of tests that seek to validate the vehicle’s safety and preparedness for public air transport services in the near future.

Developed by Chinese company EHANG, the vehicle is capable of transporting a single person at up to 130km/h and in force seven typhoon conditions.

As part of the latest test, the self-flying vehicle flew around 40 passengers, including China’s Guangzhou deputy mayor WANG Dong and EHANG founder and CEO Huazhi Hu.

Hu said: “Performing manned test flights enables us to demonstrate the safety and stability of our vehicles.

“What we’re doing isn’t an extreme sport, so the safety of each passenger always comes first.”

Since its inception in 2014, EHANG has been conducting multiple test flights of EHANG 184, including a vertical climbing test reaching up to 300m, a loaded test flight carrying around 230kg, a routed test flight covering 15km, and a high-speed cruising test that reached an altitude of 130km/h.

Hu added: “We’ve been developing and testing aerial vehicle technology for some time now, and we’re finally at the test flight stage for the AAV.

“It’s been a huge success.”

The EHANG 184, however, will go through further enhancements, with a focus on improving passenger experience and adding an optional manual control.

The passengers are also expected to be given piloting experience that will enable them to manually operate the vehicle, as part of the additional enhancements to be made to the EHANG 184.

EHANG has also developed and tested a two-seat AAV that can carry a payload of up to 280kg.