# Advanced Air Mobility: Opportunities and Challenges Deploying eVTOLs for Air Ambulance Service
## 5 Conclusions  
Although a number of technical and social concerns have been raised about AAM, early use cases for emergency response and aeromedical transport may be key to demonstrating early use cases and building public acceptance of emerging aviation technologies. However, the ability for AAM to serve aeromedical trips will be highly dependent on technological capabilities, economics, operational concept, and the ability to provide fast and reliable medical transport in a large variety of scenarios.  
This study concludes that the application of eVTOL aircraft in an aeromedical setting could confront a number of operational and economic challenges compared to hybrid VTOL aircraft and more traditional helicopters. The study concludes that the cost of air ambulance operation is primarily driven by personnel requirements irrespective of aircraft type. In order for eVTOLs to be a suitable replacement for existing aircraft, they must reduce costs, improve operational capability, or both. However, the analysis shows that battery range and weight limits the ability for eVTOL to serve longer medical transports. The analysis also concludes that an eVTOL's charging time required to bring an aircraft back to service reduces the ability for this aircraft to provide reliable aeromedical transport that is comparable with hybrid and gas-powered aircraft currently serving the marketplace.  
In order to maintain a high-level of operational readiness, this exploratory study suggests that aircraft manufacturers and air ambulance service providers may need to emphasize technological improvements and changes in operational procedures that reduce charge times, increase electric range, and explore other innovations such as battery swapping and alternative fuel aircraft. Additionally, the deployment of mixed aircraft fleets with different capabilities may be able to help bridge the gap as more reliable and  
Figure 11: Impact of fast charging on eVTOLs ability to capture rotary-wing market share.  
cost-effective aircraft for aeromedical use become available. Finally, eVTOLs may be able to enter the aeromedical market by serving non-emergency uses (e.g., patient and medical personnel transport, delivery of medical supplies, etc.). These uses require fewer personnel and could allow eVTOLs to enter the marketplace at a lower cost than existing aircraft. More research is needed to study the potential opportunities and challenges of using VTOL aircraft powered by alternative fuels such as hydrogen for aeromedical transportation.  
Conceptualization, R.G.; Formal analysis, R.G.; Methodology, R.G.; Project administration, A.C.; Writing--review & editing, A.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), grant number NNH13 CH54Z.  
Not applicable.  
The authors would like to thank NASA and the NASA market study strategic advisory group for their role in supporting this research. The authors would like to give special thanks to [PERSON] and [PERSON] for supporting this work. The contents of this article reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily indicate sponsor acceptance.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.