China's EHang Aircraft May Be Seen Over The Desert

The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) and the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) have executed a historic teaming agreement with EHang, a Chinese company developing an autonomous passenger drone, for the foundation for collaboration between NIAS and EHang in the areas of flight testing, training, and development at Nevada’s FAA UAS Test Site.

GOED and NIAS were first introduced to EHang at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show where co-founder George Yan was showcasing his company’s innovative technology, including the EHang 184, an autonomous aerial vehicle capable of carrying passengers.

“The State of Nevada, through NIAS, will help guide EHang through the FAA regulatory process with the ultimate goal of achieving safe flight,” said Tom Wilczek, GOED’s Aerospace and Defense Industry Specialist.  “EHang’s selection of Nevada to test its people-carrying drone marks a thrilling addition to the innovative companies testing throughout our state to advance the commercial drone industry.  I personally look forward to the day when drone taxis are part of Nevada’s transportation system.”

“Partnering with GOED and NIAS is a big step for EHang 184 to move forward to government regulatory approval of the unprecedented innovation in US and globally, which will lay the foundation for its commercialization and building up the aerial transportation ecosystem in the future”, said Huazhi Hu, Founder and CEO of EHang.

“Through this teaming agreement, NIAS will serve as the one-stop shop for EHang as they work through the Certificate of Airworthiness process to achieve safe and reliable flight,” said Dr. Chris Walach, Director of Operations for the Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems.

EHang expects to begin testing at the Nevada FAA UAS Test Site in 2016, and will work closely with NIAS over the coming months to work through the UAS flight requirements.

The agreement was recently executed at Switch’s Innevation Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

(Image provided with EHang news release)

FMI: www.diversifynevada.com, www.ehang.com, www.nias-uas.com