Electric Air Car Trades Propellers for CycloRotors

A novel version of technology to fly an eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicle has been introduced by an Austrian company.

CycloTech has created what it calls an air car called CruiseUp by using CycloRotor technology rather than traditional propellers.

The two-passenger concept vehicle uses CycloRotors as its electric propulsion system.

The technology allows the vehicle to do sideways and backward flight and mid-air braking without tilting or banking the vehicle.

The propulsion system, developed over the last 10 years by CycloTech, comprised five generations of CycloRotors. 

The aviation propulsion system contains several parallel blades rotating around a central rotation axis.

“The thrust is generated by a combined airflow through the rotor originating from each blade and its periodic change of the pitch angle during one rotation,” states the company product announcement. “The individual pitch angle of the blades is controlled by a certain pitch mechanism. Usually, each blade is mechanically connected to a central hub with a conrod.

“The moving parts of the CycloRotors are encapsulated and the specific configuration of CruiseUp shields the passenger cabin.”

Flight testing using CycloRotors was recently conducted at a general aviation airport in Austria following regulations of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). 

Related:Electric Air Car Trades Propellers for CycloRotors

The CruiseUp vehicle contains six rotors and can fly and land safely in the event of a rotor failure, according to the company.

CycloTech is positioning itself for the second wave of electric flying, for the decade following the current phase of electric flying taxis and other piloted eVTOLs entering the market in the relatively short-term future.

The company sees that phase with “individual air mobility with privately owned eVTOL vehicles will begin to satisfy the ultimate customer expectation – true point-to-point transportation capability at one's own disposal.”

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