Boeing Bets on Autonomous Air Taxis and GM Makes a Massive EV Investment

This Week in Engineering explores the latest in engineering from academia, government and industry.


Episode Summary:

Flying taxis have been dreamed about for decades, but the combination of several technologies available today may make them a reality soon. Boeing has announced a $450 million investment in eVTOL aircraft developer Wisk, who intend to make mass producible, autonomous and electrically powered light aircraft for air taxi service. Wisk has flown prototypes under FAA’s Experimental certification, and the company sees no insurmountable technological hurdles that prevent safe flight operations with passengers. Pending FAA approval, Wisk anticipates that a fleet of autonomous air taxis could be flying in as little as five years after certification. 

General Motors recently announced a major redevelopment of the company’s Hamtramck assembly operations to accommodate electric vehicle production. GM has dramatically expanded that EV investment with a plan to spend more than $7 billion in four Michigan sites to increase battery cell and electric light truck manufacturing capacity. The investment represents a record for General Motors. Centrepiece of the plan will be Orion Assembly, site of much of GM’s pioneering work in flex line technology, which will receive $4 billion of the overall investment. Light truck production is expected to begin in 2024. 

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Transcript of this week’s show:

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Segment 1: Autonomous, electric passenger carrying air vehicles are the hottest segment in aviation today and flying taxis promise to deliver the mobility experience of science fiction, without a pollution penalty. Engineering a workable solution to this complex problem however has kept most designs on the drawing board. Engineering complex solutions to complex problems takes money, and funding is a major determinant in the survival of novel technologies in the aerospace industry. 

San Francisco-based Wisk, the first in the US to fly an all-electric autonomous eVTOL aircraft, has announced that Boeing has invested $450 million in the enterprise, which Wisk will use to advance development of the company’s sixth generation aircraft, which they believe will be the first serious candidate for FAA certification of an autonomous, electric passenger carrying aircraft in the US. Current prototypes are similar to small, fixed wing pusher designs, with 12 small electric lift fans clustered around both wings. Lift fans provide vertical takeoff capability, while the larger pusher propeller allows conventional forward flight. 

The company quotes typical operating altitudes between 1500 and 5000 feet above ground level at about 100 mph. Electric transportation is always about batteries, and in its current iteration, the prototype has a range of 25 miles with reserves. The prototype is currently certified under the Experimental category. Safety of course will be the critical determinant for certification, and Wisk believes that the combination of multiple redundant systems and distributed thrust through 12 independent rotors will address safety and reliability issues. For emergencies at altitude, the aircraft is equipped with a ballistic parachute which can lower the entire aircraft to the ground safely. Autonomous operation can itself be considered a safety factor, as the major cause of aviation accidents is pilot error. 

FAA certification is key, with the first company to achieve this milestone enjoying a considerable competitive advantage. Wisk’s goals are very ambitious: to operate a large fleet of autonomous eVTOL aircraft within five years of certification, at which point, the company anticipates approximately 14 million annual flights serving 40 million people across 20 cities. Will it work? 

From an engineering standpoint, the Wisk approach has a couple of significant advantages. One is the use of distributed thrust through 12 small lift fans, allowing redundancy while eliminating the need for the complex gearboxes and swash plate devices controlling blade alpha, as seen on single rotor helicopters. The other is the use of conventional fixed wing technology for cruising flight, reducing or eliminating the load on the lift fans for a significant portion of each flight. Autonomy with safety will require GPS navigation backed up with a sensor and processor suite to deal with the complex aerospace above major urban areas. Automotive self driving systems in their current form, simply switch off and hand control back to the driver. Autonomous passenger carrying air taxis however, will not likely be profitable if a licensed safety pilot is needed on-board. 

Will the pacing element to certification be autonomy, the airframe or the power plants? With a very large Boeing investment, Wisk is now one of the best funded air taxi startups in the industry. We’ll report back as the technology develops. 

Segment 2: General Motors has announced yet another major investment in Michigan manufacturing this week, unveiling a plan to invest more than $7 billion in four Michigan sites to significantly increase battery cell and EV light truck manufacturing capacity. The amount is the single largest investment announcement in General Motors history. 4000 new jobs will be created, and the plan includes construction of a new Ultium battery cell plant in Lansing plus the conversion of GM’s Orion Assembly operation to build Chevrolet and GMC branded electric pickups. 

The choice of Orion is significant. The Orion Township plant was a pioneer of GM’s flex line operations and has historically been the home of lower volume GM electric vehicles. Orion is the second plant announced to build electric light trucks, suggesting considerable demand for electrified full-size pickups in the US market. The operation represents $4 billion of the overall investment and will include new body and paint shops, as well as new general assembly and battery pack lines. The plant currently produces the Chevrolet Bolt and will continue to do so during the conversion. Light truck production is expected to begin in 2024. $2.6 billion will be spent for a new Ultium cell plant in Lansing, a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution, which will create 1700 jobs. Site preparation is planed for the summer with production scheduled to begin in late 2024. The Lansing operation will supply battery cells to Orion assembly and other GM EV operations. 

Other Lansing area investments includes $510 million for Lansing Delta Township Assembly, for the next generation Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave and Lansing Grand River Assembly for plant upgrades. The Ultium battery operation will be the third cell manufacturing site in the US, joining plants under construction in Ohio and Tennessee. Orion assembly will itself become GM’s third US plant converted for production of Ultium powered electric vehicles.  It joins the previously announced Detroit and Hamtramck Factory Zero complex, the former Saturn operation in Spring Hill, Tennessee, CAMI in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada and Ramos Arizpe Assembly in Mexico. 

GM’s goal is to have 1 million units of annual electric vehicle capacity in North America by the end of 2025, with the ultimate goal of converting over 50% of GM North American assembly production to electric vehicles by 2030. Concurrent with the plant investment announcement, GM has announced supply chain partners for US rare earth materials, magnets, battery cathode materials, silicon carbide power electronics and a US source for lithium. 

The overall industry switch to electric vehicles may ultimately be dependent on major manufacturers’ ability to lock in supplies of critical rare earths for motors and lithium for batteries. GM’s lithium deal is particularly noteworthy, using a novel closed-loop direct extraction process that will recover lithium from geothermal brine sourced from the Salton Sea near Imperial, California. The extraction technology was developed by Controlled Thermal Resources, a California-based lithium and green energy technology company and will be powered by carbon free electricity generated by geothermal sources near the mineral extraction site. 

Written by

James Anderton

Jim Anderton is the Director of Content for ENGINEERING.com. Mr. Anderton was formerly editor of Canadian Metalworking Magazine and has contributed to a wide range of print and on-line publications, including Design Engineering, Canadian Plastics, Service Station and Garage Management, Autovision, and the National Post. He also brings prior industry experience in quality and part design for a Tier One automotive supplier.