Autoflight announces its V400 eVTOL and outlines future product roadmap
eVTOL developer Autoflight has unveiled its V400 ‘Albatross’ aircraft for air logistics, as well as details about its product roadmap which includes concepts for Urban Air Mobility.
The company made the announcement at the 2020 World UAV Conference yesterday (Sunday), and said the V400 range will have two models — one powered by electric and the other as a hybrid, with both having a MTOW of 400kg and 100kg payload capacity.
With a full payload, the electric V400 will have a range of 300km, while the hybrid-powered version will be able to travel up to 1,000km. Autoflight says the V400 now offers the longest range and biggest payload in China, and it has already constructed a prototype with the goal of completing a maiden flight by the end of the year.
In a press release, the company said: “The V400 uses lift surface and cruising motors for cruising, and eight sets of separate motors for vertical takeoff and landing. The full electric model uses two cruising motors in push-pull configuration, while the hybrid model uses one combustion engine at the rear for cruising.
“The V400 adopts canard layout to ensure higher lift-to-drag ratio and stall-resistant aerodynamic performance and its airframe is made with high strength carbon fibre.”
To ensure safety, the V400 has been equipped with an in-house designed flight control system with multiple redundancy, multiple sensors and radar to assist self-controlled takeoff and landing, and offers an option for a whole airframe parachute.
With its dedicated flight control system and sense-and-avoid system, the V400 can fly fully autonomously and also has integrated 4G and 5G mobile network function for multi-channel communication.”
Autoflight says the V400 is ideal for various air transportation applications, such as express delivery, media supplies, disaster relief and first response — especially in hazardous and tough terrains such as mountains and islands.

And the company plans to develop eVTOL products for passenger-carrying use in the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market, following in the footsteps of fellow Chinese company EHang — which has already begun carrying out flight tests and trial logistics operations across the country.
The founder of Autoflight, Tian Yu, has been developing electric airplanes for over a decade and designed and built several electric airplanes, including the E430 two-seat electric airplane which was certified by the German sports aviation administrative entity DULV in in November 2017.
Yu was also the founder of Yuneec, the predecessor of Autoflight, which was a world leader in consumer drones and the manufacturer of e‑Spyder single-seat electric ultralight and E430 two-seat electric ultralight which first flew in June 2009.
Autoflight presented the V600 two-seat eVTOL prototype in April 2019 at AERO Expo in Friedrichshafen, Germany and the V1000 eVTOL cargo drone prototype in November at e‑Flight-Forum in China.
It adds: “We believe that the research, design, certification and mass production of eVTOL with large payload capacity are fundamental to the commercialization of the UAM vision. In this sense, V400 is not only the presentation of Autoflight’s technological capability, but also is one step closer to the vision of passenger carrying autonomous flight together with our partners and all the players around the world making efforts towards this goal.”
Autoflight specialises in R&D of autonomous flight, eVTOL technology and aircraft manufacturing. Its headquarters are in Shanghai and R&D facilities have been set up in Munich, Germany and Shenzhen, China.
As of today, the company has designed and delivered several mission-specific eVTOL products for clients, including the V50 ‘White Shark’ which set a flight record of more than 6 hours earlier this year, and the F240 firefighting multicopter which can carry up to 100kg fire retardant.