Enel X Way and Urban V sign advanced air mobility agreement

Enel X Way has signed a mem­o­ran­dum of under­stand­ing with UrbanV to devel­op joint projects study­ing ener­gy solu­tions for Urban­V’s ver­ti­ports to allow eVTOL air­craft to be recharged in a sus­tain­able man­ner.

Projects will focus on the study and imple­men­ta­tion of Enel X Way elec­tric­i­ty infra­struc­tures inte­grat­ed with stor­age sys­tems in ver­ti­ports ded­i­cat­ed eVTOL hubs, define spe­cif­ic use cas­es and a cus­tomer expe­ri­ence to be adapt­ed to dif­fer­ent mar­ket needs.

Enel X Way head of inno­va­tion Loren­zo Ram­bal­di said: “We are the first com­pa­ny in Italy to pro­vide recharg­ing solu­tions to the eVTOL mar­ket. Sup­port­ing advanced air mobil­i­ty growth is an oppor­tu­ni­ty for Enel X Way to strength­en its com­mit­ment to devel­op­ing advanced charg­ing tech­nolo­gies.”

UrbanV CEO Car­lo Tur­si com­ment­ed: “We are launch­ing a col­lab­o­ra­tion that demon­strates the will of two com­pa­nies to work togeth­er to find inno­v­a­tive, sus­tain­able and tru­ly effec­tive solu­tions.

“UrbanV is work­ing to posi­tion Rome as one of the first cities in the world able to offer direct con­nec­tions by elec­tric air­craft. We are already work­ing on ver­ti­port net­works in oth­er regions of Europe includ­ing Venice, Bologna and the French Riv­iera.”

The agree­ment will enable sus­tain­able Enel X Way recharg­ing infra­struc­tures in Urban­V’s ver­ti­ports start­ing with Rome and Fiu­mi­ci­no Air­port. Com­pared to heli­copters, eVTOLs have a 35% low­er oper­at­ing cost accord­ing to indus­try esti­mates, and could become an eco­nom­i­cal and sus­tain­able alter­na­tive to road trans­port, espe­cial­ly in busy cities.

UrbanV recent­ly inau­gu­rat­ed the first test ver­ti­port at Fiu­mi­ci­no air­port, enabling the first flight of a pilot­ed eVTOL. Enel X Way will pro­vide the tech­no­log­i­cal infra­struc­ture that will enable the man­age­ment of ver­ti­ports and the recharg­ing of these fly­ing taxis.

Italy’s first ver­ti­port deployed today at Rome’s Fiu­mi­ci­no Air­port

After an ini­tial test phase, the ser­vice will be oper­a­tional as ear­ly as 2024, enabling pas­sen­gers to make fast, emis­sion-free flights in urban set­tings.