Zero emissions vertical aircraft takes off for Tacoma based design team

August 13, 2018

ZEVA ushers in a new paradigm of urban travel with their personal air transport vehicle as an answer to traffic congestion.

ZEVA is a team of engineers, designers and dreamers in Tacoma, WA, who are opening a third dimension of transportation, air travel, to commuters.  Their first personal aircraft vehicle, aptly named ZERO, will provide high speed travel well above urban congestion without the complications of airports or roads.  ZERO will utilize a patent pending eVTOL technology that will allow it to take-off and land, vertically, in a very small area.  Imagine point-to-point travel (virtually a sports car in the sky) that will take you from home to office, quietly and efficiently.  Your ZERO will fit in your garage and then whisk you off to your office in the city at a comfortable 100+ mph.

When the founders of ZEVA began looking for answers to issues such as surface traffic congestion and failing infrastructures, their first inclination was to look to the sky.  Before the urban sprawl we know today overtook the towns that once harbored small community airports, the small airplane seemed like a great solution for short, commuter trips.  That is no longer the case.  “The truth is, general Aviation hasn’t worked for years,” explains Stephen Tibbitts, founder and industrial designer for ZEVA Aero, “in almost every populated region of the planet, land has become valuable to developers and the airport owners succumb to the need.  In the Tacoma area alone, 22 airports have disappeared to make way for multi-family dwelling units.  You simply can’t get to where you want to go in a small aircraft anymore.  Which is why the ZERO rises above other personal aircraft options.  Where we’re going, we don’t need roads and we don’t need airports!”

In addition to being highly efficient for personal transportation, the ZERO is also electric.  Making it ecologically green, clean, and quiet.  It will also be fun to fly and practical. With speeds up to 150mph the ZERO will not only get you where you need to go without having to sit in commuter traffic, it will get you there fast.

“We’ve had the idea for the ZERO for over a decade but the catalyst for mobilization has been the GoFly Prize being sponsored by Boeing,” explains Tibbitts. “All the way back to August of 2004, the thought process had begun. Considerations of electric flight with dual mode hover and cruise aircraft design began to take shape, and embodiments of these ideas resulted in a NASA grant application in 2005.”  Fast forward to 2017.  Battery and motor technologies have finally caught up with Tibbitts’ dream, and he began assembling ZEVA.

ZEVA is made up of group of progressive thinkers seeking solutions to the ever-increasing dilemma of too many vehicles on the road, continuous gas emissions threatening our environment, and the desire to fly green without harming the environment. They are currently perfecting their design for greater efficiency and speed as they move into the second phase of the GoFly Competition, unveiling their design at the final fly-off competition in October, 2019.  After which, they will continue to expand production to meet consumer demand.

ZEVA will be appearing this month at the Angel Capital Expo Northwest on August 23rd, Microsoft Building 33, 16080 NE 36th Way in Redmond, WA.

For more information please contact Stephen Tibbitts at 253-820-7822, steve@zevaaero.com or visit the ZEVA website at www.zevaaero.com.