Electric air transport is set to take off with taxis, ambulances, cargo deliveries by end of this decade

SINGAPORE — Among displays of defense jets, passenger airliners and high-tech aviation equipment at the Singapore Airshow were electric air transport vehicles — touted as the future of urban transportation.

Electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles, or eVTOLs, which can land and take off vertically can be used as air taxis, for cargo delivery, medical and emergency response transportation and as private vehicles.

CNBC spoke to three of the biggest names backing eVTOLs at the airshow — Hyundai Motor Group-owned Supernal, Boeing-backed Wisk and Embraer-owned Eve Air Mobility, which seek to commercialize their vehicles by the end of this decade.

They highlighted air taxi services for short-distance travel over cities as one of the first potential uses of eVTOLs.

"So it's just going to be another way to travel instead of just going from the airport to downtown and you get stuck in your car for two hours ... well, they'll have an alternative that could be fully electrical," Johann Bordais, chief executive officer of Eve Air Mobility, told CNBC.

Eve is currently testing an air taxi prototype and aims to bring its concept to service by 2026.

"We can use similar infrastructure that helicopter operators currently have," Supernal's chief executive officer Jaiwon Shin told CNBC, noting that while the operations may start in urban areas, they will gradually spread to routes serving satellite cities as well.

"We are open to all possible use cases because there is no existing market out there," Shin said.

Supernal's S-A2 eVTOL prototype, unveiled earlier this year, which is designed to carry four passengers and a pilot, aims to hit the market by 2028.

Boeing-backed Wisk is currently working on its self-flying aircraft, with similar