The five-day Farnborough International Airshow, one of the largest aerospace shows in the world, kicks off today. Among the many debuts, demonstrations and announcements is the news that global aerospace and technology company Vertical Aerospace will commence testing of its next generation VX4 eVTOL prototype.

Founded in 2016, Bristol-headquartered Vertical Aerospace is on a mission to develop the “world’s most advanced and safest” Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

As the Farnborough Air Show kicks off, the company has revealed that testing on its recently announced VX4 prototype – a piloted, four-passenger eVTOL aircraft, with zero operating emissions – has commenced.

This will involve powered propulsion testing of the prototype’s powertrain, which includes proprietary battery packs capable of producing 1.4MW of peak power.

This proprietary battery technology has been designed and manufactured at Vertical Energy Centre, the company’s purpose-built aerospace battery...