Electric aircraft start-up ERC System plans vertical take-off aircraft by 2031.

E-aircraft: Take three! Now the Third Start-Up Wants to Bring an E-Hybrid Aircraft into the Air

2026-02-12 Source: dpa | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

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After the failures of two electric aircraft start-ups, a third young company now announces its intention to bring a flying vertical take-off aircraft to series production by the year 2031 ...

This is Romeo. This vertically starting e-aircraft with a hybrid drive was developed by ERC System from Ottobrunn (Germany) and recently presented in Erding. It's still a drone, but Romeo is expected to achieve what Volocopter and Lilium have failed to do ...(Image: ERC System) — This is Romeo. This vertically starting e-aircraft with a hybrid drive was developed by ERC System from Ottobrunn (Germany) and recently presented in Erding. It's still a drone, but Romeo is expected to achieve what Volocopter and Lilium have failed to do ...
(Image: ERC System)

The electric aircraft equipped with a hybrid engine is being developed by ERC System, a company founded in 2020 in Ottobrunn (Germany). The idea is that it could be used as an air ambulance. Therefore, the cooperation partner is the air rescue organisation DRF. This was reported by the management of the company, which has 60 employees, and the DRF during the presentation of a prototype named Romeo in Erding. According to the heads of ERC System, they believe that electric airplanes have a future. "Electrified, we can fly at completely different operating costs compared to a conventional airplane," noted Max Oligschläger, co-founder and commercial director of the company. There is also a significant market behind this—especially for aircraft designed to transport five or six people. However, according to aerospace engineers, the electric drive is not suitable for larger aircraft at the current stage of development. The prototype is essentially a remote-controlled drone, but the finished aircraft is intended to be flown by pilots. The finished aircraft is expected to have a range of up to 800 kilometers, which explains the hybrid drive.

ERC System has financially more stable future prospects

Electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft are referred to in English aviation jargon as "eVTOL" (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft). However, in the past two years, the two German developers of such machines—Lilium and Volocopter—filed for bankruptcy despite all favorable conditions. They simply lacked willing investors. Lilium ceased operations, and Volocopter was eventually taken over by a Chinese company. But ERC System has a long-term-oriented investor in the form of the Bavaria-based aviation service provider IABG. Oligschläger comments: "We need a strategic investor who can support us not only with capital but also with experience and persistence." And that is the case with IABG. In the medium to long term, however, ERC also intends to bring other investors on board—or into the electric aircraft, so to speak.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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