While the past 12 months have seen the demise of both Volocopter and Lilium, two electric vehicle takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developers appear to go from strength to strength.
British startup Vertical Aerospace and US-based Joby Aviation have each already made significant progress in the development of their aircraft this year with important flight tests and the announcement of key partner agreements.
Updates from both eVTOL developers are coming thick and fast with Vertical Aerospace this month unveiling that it will build a hybrid-electric vertical take-off-and landing (VTOL) variant of its VX4 aircraft.
While certifying their aircraft is the ultimate goal and fundamentally poses the greatest challenge, ensuring the funds and resources are in place to continue development is crucial to progress.
The stumbling blocks in the end for Volocopter and Lilium were down to money and their fall was certainly a warning about the precarious nature of harnessing the next big aviation evolution.
As we approach the midpoint of 2025 it seemed a good opportunity to look over the progress that Vertical and Joby (UK vs US) have made so far this year and see who is leading the pack.
Vertical Aerospace
The year started strongly for Vertical Aerospace with the announcement in January 2025, that the company had secured $90 million during a fundraising blitz that saw over $60 million arrive from new investors, as well as $25 million from existing backer Mudrick Capital.
At the time Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace, said that he “couldn’t be more thrilled with how we’ve started the year” as the company advances its Flightpath 2030 strategy from prototype to production.
The start of the year also saw Vertical Aerospace complete its first piloted thrustborne flight maneuvers and become only the second company in the world, after Joby Aviation, to achieve the step using a full-scale vectored thrust eVTOL aircraft.
As part of “Phase 2” of its piloted thrustborne testing, Vertical Aerospace’s VX4 completed over 30 test flights at its test center at Cotswold Airport (GBA).
Flight tests included completing successful hover and low speed flight maneuvers, as well as executing handling and performance procedures including roll, yaw, and spot-turns.
“It’s incredible to see how far we’ve come—from the first tethered flights just months ago to now successfully completing thrustborne testing,” said Simon Davies, Vertical’s Chief Test Pilot, following the test stage completion in February 2025.
In another significant update Vertical announced on May 27, 2025, that Davies had completed the first-ever piloted wingborne flight of a winged eVTOL aircraft in European open airspace.
After receiving approval from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the VX4 prototype took off, flew and landed like a conventional aircraft, with lift generated by the wing.
Aircraft Three recently arrived safely at its home base, the Vertical Flight Test Centre.
Joining Aircraft Two – our growing flight test fleet will enable increased testing and future demonstrations as we stay focused on certifying to the highest possible standard.#eVTOL #VX4… pic.twitter.com/MmtBAvzE7k
— Vertical Aerospace (@VerticalAero) May 20, 2025
The company will be able to increase flight testing capacity with the introduction of its third full-scale VX4 prototype and the arrival of former Volocopter Chief Test Pilot, Paul Stone.
As well as the appointment of Stone, Vertical Aerospace has been busy making a number of executive acquisitions to strengthen its team this year.
In January 2025, Dómhnal Slattery was introduced as Vertical’s Chairman of its Board of Directors and then in March 2025, Eamonn Brennan, a former Director General of Eurocontrol, joined as an adviser to its board.
Then in May 2025, Vertical announced that James Keith Brown, Kris Haber, and Carsten Stendevad would also be added to the company board.
In another significant development, Vertical strengthened its long-term partnership with Honeywell with a contract thought to be worth up to $1 billion over the next decade.
Under the expanded alliance Honeywell and Vertical will work together to certify two of the most critical systems that will need to be certified for the production version of VX4.
These include the aircraft management system which operates the Honeywell Anthem flight deck, plus the flight controls system which uses Honeywell’s compact fly-by-wire system.
However, it was Vertical’s announcement earlier in May 2025 that really stood out against all other news developments affecting the company.
On May 12, 2025, Vertical unveiled plans to build a hybrid-electric version of VX4 that will have a range of up to 1,000 miles (1,600km) with a maximum payload of 1,100 kilograms (2,424 lbs).
#VerticalAerospace pic.twitter.com/eHu8VHHval
— Ian Molyneaux💙🇺🇦 (@Ian_Molyneaux_) February 6, 2025
Vertical believes that the increased range and capabilities of the hybrid aircraft will be a more attractive option for defense, logistics, and other commercial sectors
Vertical’s second-generation hybrid-propulsion system, which has been in development for 18 months will be retrofitted into a VX4 full-scale prototype and is expected to commence flight testing in 2026.
“2025 is on pace to be a transformational year for Vertical as we advance our piloted flight test program and move into the final flight test phases. With the announcement of our hybrid-electric program – opening up new high-value markets – and the expansion of our partnership with Honeywell to certify critical flight systems, we are deepening our technical and commercial edge,” said Simpson.
He added: “With growing regulatory confidence in the VX4 and a strong team behind us, we’re well positioned to deliver a scalable, certifiable aircraft to the global market.”
Joby Aviation
US-based Joby Aviation listed its 2024 highlights as building and flying three new aircraft, conducting three international demonstrations and operating a hydrogen-electric technology demonstrator over 500 miles with zero in-flight emissions.
Joby Aviation is the most advanced eVTOL developer having already recorded progress on the fourth of five stages required to certify its aircraft for commercial passenger use in the US.
The company expects Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) flight testing to begin, possibly by the end of this year.
“TIA testing is considered the final phase of the type certification process, which paves the way for an aircraft to begin commercial passenger operations. This phase involves FAA test pilots conducting testing to validate an aircraft’s performance and safety in accordance with previously approved certification test plans,” said Joby on February 26, 2025, as part of its annual update.
Joby also announced it had delivered a second aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base as part of its work with the US Department of Defense and secured more than $1 billion of additional funding in the fourth quarter of 2024.
In March 2025, Joby announced a partnership with Virgin Atlantic, an airline which had previously committed to Vertical Aerospace, to launch eVTOL flights in the UK and US.
The partnership means Virgin Atlantic customers will be able to reserve a seat on Joby’s aircraft through Virgin Atlantic’s app, website and other additional channels.
PILOT-ON-BOARD TRANSITION | We’ve reached a critical milestone on our path to commercializing the Joby aircraft: flying through transition with a pilot onboard.And then we did it six more times in the past week, with three different Joby pilots experiencing transition flight… pic.twitter.com/YsoZVS5hmi
— Joby Aviation (@jobyaviation) April 29, 2025
A big breakthrough for Joby came in April 2025, when its eVTOL aircraft completed its first piloted transition flight, moving from vertical to cruise flight, and then back again.
The landmark moment came on April 22, 2025, and has since been followed by several more transition flights with multiple pilots at the controls.
Joby first demonstrated remotely piloted transition of a full-scale prototype for the first time in 2017 and has since conducted hundreds of unmanned transitions from vertical take-off to cruise flight.
In a further flying development on May 9, 2025, two of Joby’s aircraft flew simultaneously for the first time.
On May 7, 2025, Joby published its first quarter results indicating on March 31, 2025, that the firm had $813 million in cash and short-term investments, not including the additional $500 million commitment from Toyota Motoring Corporation.
However, on May 27, 2025, Joby announced the closing of the first $250 million from Toyota, that will go towards supporting certification and commercial production.
It was also announced that Rodrigo Brumana would become Joby’s Chief Financial Officer from May 30, 2025, after previously working for HP, Amazon and eBay.
Joby’s sixth aircraft will also soon join the test program after undergoing final functional checks, having been powered on for the first time in April 2025.
Joby said it remains on track to deliver an aircraft to Dubai in the middle of 2025 to complete flight testing ahead of first passenger flights in the region.
Conclusion
Joby Aviation is undoubtably the frontrunner for launching commercial eVTOL aircraft flights first, but Vertical has never stated ambitions to be number one.
The story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” springs to mind.
