Embraer’s Eve, Widerøe Zero collaborate on UAM

Officials from Embraer’s Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions Inc. (Eve), an Embraer company, and Widerøe Zero signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to partner on developing urban air mobility (UAM) solutions, with a focus on deploying electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) operations in Scandinavia.

The relationship between the two organizations began in 2017, when Widerøe signed an order for up to 15 E190-E2. The largest regional airline in Scandinavia is also the launch customer of the new generation E-Jets E2 family, starting the E190-E2 operations in April 2018 in Bergen, Norway. Now, with the creation of the Air Mobility Business Incubator, Widerøe Zero, the companies will use Eve’s zero-emission and low noise footprint eVTOL vehicle to develop a new concept of operation where passengers will experience the future of electric transportation and a new model of sustainable mobility, connecting people living in a sparsely populated region and challenging geography. As part of this collaboration, Widerøe Zero will contribute to a market readiness exercise and a vehicle concept of operation study in Scandinavia, furthering Eve’s development of the UAM market in the region.

“Widerøe Zero is excited to work with Eve on the eVTOL concept. Although initially designed for urban air mobility, we expect these highly flexible vehicles to be interesting in a variety of applications also in rural areas, from cargo to passenger transportation. Our partnership with Eve is part of our plan to accelerate the development of sustainable aviation in Norway. We are looking forward to the expanded partnership, unlocking new opportunities to improve regional connectivity,” said Andreas Kollbye Aks, CEO at Widerøe Zero.

“In order to contribute to the world target to eliminate greenhouse gas emission by 2050, the aerospace industry depends on disruptive innovation. With urban air mobility, we have a unique opportunity to design a new and optimized mobility ecosystem: infrastructure, vehicle, operations, and air traffic management systems,” said André Stein, Eve president and CEO. "We are thrilled to work together with Widerøe Zero to develop UAM solutions in Scandinavia, with an entirely new, zero-emission, experience to travelers.”

Benefitting from a startup mindset and backed by Embraer’s more than 50-year history of aircraft manufacturing and certification expertise, Eve unveils a unique value proposition by positioning itself as an ecosystem partner by offering a suite of products and services with highest levels of safety standards. Eve’s human-centered, eVTOL design combines disruptive innovation and a simple and intuitive design. In addition to the aircraft program, Eve is harnessing the expertise of both Embraer and Atech, a subsidiary of the Embraer Group, in providing globally recognized air traffic management software to create the solutions that will help safely scale the UAM industry going forward.

Eve is the first company to graduate from EmbraerX.

Widerøe Zero, owned by Widerøe AS and headquartered in Norway, tackles all the regulatory, commercial and financing challenges involved in purchasing and operating zero-emissions aircraft.