Advanced Air Mobility News

Whisper Aero CEO: Silence is Golden for eVTOL Air Taxis

Whisper Aero CEO: Silence is Golden for eVTOL Air Taxis

Mark Moore, the CEO of Whisper Aero, said eVTOLs need to be able to operate silently in order to become more widely adopted and accepted by communities all over the world. 

Moore acknowledged the need for quieter systems was something he learned from his time as an executive at Uber Elevate, which sold its air taxi idea to Joby Aviation. 

With Moore joining, Whisper, the propulsion system developer, aims to introduce the quietest electric propulsion system so that eVTOLs can abide by Moore’s ethos on the industry’s route to success. 

“If you want to get to scale with delivery drones or eVTOL air taxis, you better be really quiet,” he told TechCrunch in a recent interview. “You’ve got to be quiet enough that you’re not disruptive to those communities.”

After building nine versions of the same propulsor in two years, the Tennessee-based firm has finally nailed down a propulsion system that can reduce the sound and shift tonal profiles. This includes tones in the ultrasonic range which people can’t hear. 

In the past, sacrifices have had to be made to cut down the noise emitted by electric aircraft. But, Whisper COO Ian Villa refused to compromise on performance, weight, or efficiency, saying there had to be an answer to the longstanding problem.  

“Most companies only think about designing for low noise by reducing disk loading and tip speed with a willingness to sacrifice efficiency,” Whisper said in a statement. “We never accepted this premise.”

Acknowledging the advancements being made in the electric aircraft sector, Moore sees eVTOL companies utilizing Whisper’s technology in the future. He said Whisper’s propulsion system may enable an eVTOL to fly at 300 to 400 mph instead of 150 mph. 


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