AAMbulance: ERC’s plans for medical eVTOLs

Deep Dive

by Yves Le Marquand

31 July 2024

In aircraft engineer circles the ‘What came first, the chicken or the egg?’ conundrum is more commonly referred to as ‘What came first, the aircraft or the use case?’

For Munich-based startup eVTOL developer ERC-System (ERC) it is most definitely the use case. David Löbl, CEO at ERC believes there is an eVTOL in development for every mission profile and his company is building for the medical sector.

“We have to compare apples with apples. It is not a one-fits-all eVTOL situation. There is the perfect eVTOL for air taxi, there is the perfect eVTOL for luxury limousine and we are the perfect medical transport eVTOL for patients,” Löbl tells Revolution.Aero.

Recently emerged from stealth, ERC is based in the municipality of Ottobrunn, southeast of Munich. The firm is developing a lift-and-cruise configuration eVTOL aircraft with a 450-500kg max payload – equal to the weight of three people and 180kg of medical equipment. The aircraft will also have a range of about 190km (118miles) travelling at a cruise speed of 180km/h (111mph).

But that wasn’t where Löbl and his team began. “We started because several medical experts and helicopter rescue companies came to us with a very big problem: patient transportation is under pressure drastically because distances between hospitals get larger due to centralisation trends and at the same time the demographic change causes more and more critical cases that need to be transported. All while the amount of medical personnel is decreasing.

“In order to offer the perfect solution for patient transportation we knew that we could not just build any aircraft but really build something doctors and operators want. To do that efficiently, we decided to focus on building and proving to the world that we are able to get there without tremendous amounts of marketing and funding, while still talking to relevant experts in stealth mode.

“It was our motivation to not build yet another air taxi, but rather to solve this time and cost dilemma of patient transport,” adds Löbl.

History of delivering

The founding team at ERC established the company after coming over from AutoFlightX, which was the first European effort by Chinese eVTOL developer AutoFlight. There Löbl worked on delivering the company’s V600 all-electric aircraft prototype with canard wing configuration and vertical lift capability.

“Right from the beginning our intention was to build aircraft in an aviation and cost-efficient way. It was a very cool time back then at Autoflight because we learnt the hard way. It is one thing to build demonstrators that look great – but it is much more difficult to truly fly at full scale and full mass. We brought a lot of experience building 300-600kg electric aircraft with us to ERC. This is why we decided to build representative demonstrators from the beginning at ERC – in full scale and full mass.”

Market demand should be a key driver behind any new aircraft programme. For Löbl it is why the company decided to take the medical approach. “If the vehicle was ready today it would be in commercial operation, the demand is there. Most of the infrastructure too, at least for the initial market which will be inter-hospital transport, already exists.

“We saw a combination of a very clear market with existing demand. It is not that we are not fans of air taxis, I can’t wait to ride in an eVTOL, but we tried to go the aviation route. That means not promising to build thousands of aircraft but starting one step after another. Deep tech companies truly become world market leaders by becoming the best in a clear target market before expanding in other market or use cases from that position. I think in the times we are facing, with many players having overpromised, our more reasonable and less risky approach has proven to be a very good decision, because we have not burned through high investment to get where we are.”

The use case

So what does ERC mean by inter-hospital transport? Löbl explains it will be patient-first due to the payload capabilities of the aircraft, but medical supplies and critical cargo, such as special medical equipment, organs or blood could also be transported. One key factor in deciding whether a patient can be transported via air or ground is their ability to cope with the noise and vibration experienced in a helicopter. A significantly quieter and more stable eVTOL will expand the scope of who can travel, while also creating less of an impact on areas surrounding the flight path.

“Factors such as hospitals closing creating more distance between facilities, an ageing population creating more demand and increasing congestion are boosting the hospital air transport market. By transporting faster, we can make more efficient use of personnel. Of course, a helicopter is capable of doing what we do and more in terms of payload, but it is much more expensive and complex to operate.”

Löbl says the company does not plan to completely replace today’s medical helicopters and ground transportation. However, he anticipates that slower ground transport could be supplemented in the future. Also, the projected operational costs could catalyse helicopter replacements over time, especially if promised later battery iterations bring substantial range improvements.

What is the cost?

A low-cost ground ambulance only costs 0.5 €/min, but it is slow, averaging 60 km/h. The helicopter is faster than ERC’s aircraft, averaging 200 km/h, but it is expensive at 25 €/min (pure vehicle costs without cost for personnel on board). At 8 €/min, the ERC eVTOL is one third of the cost of a helicopter and three times faster at 180 km/h than a patient transport by ambulance.

Development has also been more cost-efficient for ERC. The company ran calculations versus other developers who have raised similar cash. “Compared to other first movers at our level of funding, we ran the numbers and compared out current development state to theirs and we saw we did it for significantly less money for the same technology readiness. So we have been very efficient up to now and will continue to be more efficient right up to certification,” says Löbl.

“We plan to be producing these aircraft commercially in 2029,” he adds.

The company opted for a simple design featuring what is known as a lift-and-cruise configuration. Without tilting rotors, the aircraft becomes inherently simpler, a pay-off that the ERC team believes outweighs the benefits tilting rotors offer. “Kelly Johnson said: ‘Keep it simple, stupid!’ To me, this is still the best way to build a novel aircraft in a cost-efficient way. If you look at the big players like Leonardo, development of tilting rotor vehicles is very complex and takes a long time. We need our vehicle to be as robust as possible for the medical market,” explains Löbl.

ERC has not revealed its investors or funding raised as yet, however Löbl tells us the company is the in double-digit millions in terms of cash invested and has sufficient equity to continue aircraft development for the time being.

Next steps

Currently in the concept phase of the product with two full-size demonstrators built. “We just flew the first one and the second, which we unveiled a few weeks ago, will fly this year,” says Löbl. “Our technical risk reduction has been carried out successfully. From the market side, we understand we are building the perfect aircraft for a very clear target in the US and Europe. Also, certification authorities are progressing more and more, so we know what we need to fulfil without unexpectedly being confronted with large delays. All of this combined should give us a straightforward product development.”

The company has a partnership with German medical helicopter operator DRF Luftrettung. The helicopters and aircraft of DRF take off from 32 bases across Germany, including emergency rescue missions and transports of intensive care patients between hospitals.

“DRF also have subsidiaries in several European countries we are in discussions with. We are also talking to several interested parties in the US,” says Löbl. “We are currently looking out for partners in the helicopter industry. In my view, it will be helicopter operators who will first bring these eVTOLs into the market, they have maintenance operations, trained pilots and decades of experience.”