Vertical Aerospace is a British startup that has built and flown a fully electric vertical takeoff and landing eVTOL aircraft. Vertical Aerospace was founded in 2016 by Stephen Fitzpatrick, the brains behind OVO Energy, with an aim to make air travel on-demand and carbon-free.

With electric aircraft vehicles like Vertical Aerospace’s eVTOL, there are hopes that short-haul flights will be replaced with environmentally-friendly flying vehicles. The pilotless demonstrator aircraft weighs 750 kg and his first flight test was earlier this summer across Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire. Other flying car aspirants are working toward launching autonomous aircraft early in the next decade. The UK has a real opportunity to lead the world in eVTOL technology. The race is on to be the first to develop flying cars and get people using them and with the support from the government, regulators and the wider science and engineering community. Vertical is aiming to revolutionize how people travel by "decarbonizing" air transport and giving people the freedom to fly from their local neighborhood directly to their destination.

In a later stage, Vertical will seek to extend the aircraft's range and passenger load. It will also introduce elements of autonomous flight and expand the number of chartered routes the eVTOL can serve.