ASX in Detroit, which is developing a hybrid electric VTOL Air-Taxi that will free commuters and business travelers from congestion on the road and in the air, today announced it is teaming with VerdeGo Aero in Daytona Beach to apply VerdeGo’s IDEP (Integrated Distributed Electric Propulsion) systems to future versions of ASX MOBi-One aircraft.
Founded in 2017 and based at Coleman A. Young International Airport (Detroit City Airport), ASX selected the IDEP system to take advantage of developing electric power options, while also benefiting from already-available, traditional turbine powerplants.
VerdeGo Aero’s IDEP systems are a modular set of battery-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion components that are under development to support a wide array of VTOL aircraft and mission profiles. The ASX MOBi-One is a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft is optimized for fast, inexpensive, city-to-city transportation.
ASX developed the MOBi as the best solution for city-center to city-center travel, with door-to-door prices that will be equal to or less than the price of an UberX Ride. With MOBi-One, the mass traveling public will be offered the benefits of private air travel via the nation’s 15,000 community airports and helipads.
For example, ASX’s business model, under one scenario, would allow customers to order, via an app, a seat on an aerial taxi that offers a cabin with room for five people, including a pilot (along with luggage). Each customer would pay around $90 for a ride from say John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to a helipad pad atop a parking deck in downtown Manhattan.
The 14-mile trip would take 7 to 10 minutes in an aerial taxi, and passengers would either walk to their final destination or have an Uber ground vehicle waiting on the street below to complete their journey. Depending on the time of day and traffic conditions, the same trip could be as long as 1.5 hours in a standard yellow taxi and cost around $52 (plus tolls and a tip).
Fitting the MOBI-One with IDEP propulsion in the future will enable both increased efficiency and sustainability for the MOBi aircraft family.
“VerdeGo Aero’s IDEP systems enable forward-thinking aircraft manufacturers such as ASX MOBi-One to apply electric propulsion options to high-performance VTOL aircraft,” says Eric Bartsch, COO of VerdeGo Aero. “ASX’s adoption of our first generation hybrid IDEP platform will smooth the path to a fully battery electric VTOL solution, once those options become viable.”
The company was founded in 2017 by Erik Lindbergh, whose grandfather, Charles Lindbergh, in 1927, was the first pilot to fly nonstop from New York to Paris. In 2002, Erik Lindbergh retraced his grandfather’s flight. As president of VerdeGo Aero, Lindbergh and his team have been focused on developing electric propulsion for general aircraft, making them quiet and clean.
“ASX is excited to benefit from the world-leading hybrid and electric propulsion expertise on VerdeGo Aero’s team as we kick off a joint engineering program to prepare the MOBi fleet for future electrification,” says Jon Rimanelli, CEO of ASX.
“The initial turbine-driven variant of the MOBi will deliver unparalleled performance in its class, and the integration of VerdeGo Aero’s IDEP platforms ensures that we have a clear roadmap of propulsion variants for MOBi-One well into the future.”
The first-generation hybrid IDEP systems currently under development at VerdeGo Aero can be applied to aircraft for Urban Air Mobility, cargo transportation, military missions, EMS, and longer-range VTOL missions.
The hybrid IDEP platform is being engineered to enable seamless upgrades to the second-generation battery IDEP platform when battery cells with sufficient energy density, power density, cycle lifetime, and cost are available for aerospace usage.
VerdeGo Aero is headquartered in the Research Park at the Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and is working with global innovators on propulsion options for VTOL aircraft aimed at a wide array of markets and missions within the civilian Urban Air Mobility market.
To watch a video of the ASX MOBi-One, visit: https://asx.us/
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