AAM Reality Index: April 2025 Update Highlights Progress In Piloted and Autonomous Flights
The Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Reality Index for April 2025 has been released, incorporating data gathered since February.
The AAM Reality Index, published every two months by SMG Consulting, assesses companies on their potential to successfully bring advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft to market.
The company has made a change in the methodology this month and has increased weight given to full-scale and subscale piloted flights, as well as fully autonomous operations.
This adjustment has led to revised ratings for several OEMs, highlighting real-world progress in vehicle testing.
Ratings and Funding Updates
Six OEMs saw updates to their Reality Index ratings. Joby Aviation rose to 8.0 (from 7.9), Vertical Aerospace moved up to 7.2 (from 7.1), and Electra climbed to 5.9 (from 5.6), with each reflecting improvements in either technology readiness or funding.
Volocopter, now inclusive of Wafeng Diamond following an assumed consolidation, saw its rating increase to 8.1 (from 7.9), largely due to new corporate backing. AutoFlight and SkyDrive experienced marginal downgrades tied to the revised piloted flight criteria.
Furthermore, several companies secured significant funding rounds. Electra completed a Series B round, increasing its capital to $249 million, up from $134 million.
Heart Aerospace raised an additional $40 million, bringing its total to $189.7 million. China-based TCab Tech more than doubled its funding to $100 million, while Diamond Aircraft’s acquisition of Volocopter bolstered the German eVTOL developer’s backing to a corporate-supported level from $761 million.
Moreover, Germany-based Vaeridion joined the index as a new entrant.
Autonomous Cargo UAV Index Sees Progress
In the Autonomous Cargo UAV segment, technology readiness led to upgrades for Elroy Air (8.8 from 8.5) and Vertaxi (7.3 from 7.0), recognizing successful autonomous flight demonstrations.
Additionally, Dronamics’ certification timeline has been updated, though the specifics remain under wraps.
For a full breakdown of the April 2025 update, visit the official release here: AAM Reality Index April 2025