EHang EH216-S

EHang EH216-S is a two-seat battery-electric multirotor aircraft built by EHang in Guangzhou, China. It carries people, but nobody on board flies it: the two occupants are passengers, and the aircraft follows pre-planned routes automatically under supervision from a ground command centre. It is the passenger-carrying electric vertical take-off and landing design behind which China's civil aviation regulator placed its first such type certificate.

Design and capabilities

The airframe is a compact multirotor: sixteen propellers are carried on eight arms arranged around a small enclosed cabin with two side-by-side seats. EHang publishes a width of 5.73 m across the arms and a maximum take-off weight of 620 kg; a length of 5.61 m and a payload of 220 kg are recorded in the encyclopaedic description of the type. Propulsion is entirely battery-electric, with no combustion engine and no mechanical linkage to a pilot's controls.

Performance is deliberately short-legged. EHang quotes a range of 30 km and a maximum design speed of 130 km/h, with a cruise speed of about 100 km/h and a maximum flight altitude of 3,000 m. Flight time on a charge is about 21 minutes, which is roughly a third of an hour. Those figures place the aircraft in the sightseeing and short point-to-point role rather than intercity transport. Because there is no pilot, the cabin volume and weight normally given over to flight controls are available to the two occupants and their hand baggage.

Programme status

The Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the type certificate for the EH216-S on 13 October 2023. A standard airworthiness certificate followed on 21 December 2023, and the certified aircraft was handed over to a customer in Guangzhou on the same date. On 28 December 2023 EHang flew commercial demonstration flights in Guangzhou and Hefei with invited passengers on board. The regulator granted a production certificate on 7 April 2024, allowing series manufacture. On 30 March 2025 two operators, Guangdong EHang General Aviation and Hefei HeYi Aviation, received air operator certificates covering low-altitude tourism, urban sightseeing and other passenger-carrying flight services at sites in Guangzhou and Hefei.

FAQ

Is it flying today? Yes. The type holds a Chinese type certificate, a production certificate and an airworthiness certificate, and two operators have held air operator certificates for passenger flights since March 2025.

How many people does it carry? Two, both of them passengers. There is no pilot seat and no onboard pilot.

How far can it go? EHang quotes 30 km, with a flight time of about 21 minutes per charge.

Where can it be flown? The certificates and operating approvals described above were issued in China, and the published operating sites are in Guangzhou and Hefei.