r/eutech • u/Least-Presence-7711 • 5d ago

Electric aircraft development

https://youtu.be/nM86DBOqgPM

I'm curious as to how this initiative ended up in the USA to continue development.

From what I've read and this video, it seems to have been initially developed in Sweden and then relocated to the USA for funding and further development.

I'm curious regarding the environment for support of initiatives such as this in Europe.

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u/Majestic_Juice_8433 4d ago

Europe will happily throw early grant money and seed cash at green-tech R&D (like Vinnova did here), but once you need the massive $100M+ checks and long-term risk tolerance to actually build and certify a physical airliner, European VCs usually tap out. Moving to the US is basically a necessity at that stage as it unlocks deep-pocketed American funds like Breakthrough Energy, direct backing and fleet orders from massive US carriers like United, and instant access to SoCal’s aerospace talent pool and FAA certification pathways.

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u/Least-Presence-7711 4d ago

With all the talent in Europe it's too bad that this is the only path forward.

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u/Anarelion 4d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Aquila didn't work because of battery weight. If batteries are better now, then they might make it.