TCab Tech (Shanghai Time Technology Co.)

About

TCab Tech is a Chinese eVTOL developer, headquartered in Shanghai, whose product is the E20 — an all-electric tilt-rotor carrying one pilot and four passengers. The company's own material gives a maximum speed of 320 km/h, a maximum range of 200 km and a 450 kg payload, with an 800-volt charging architecture. Its two most significant flight-test milestones are its own: a first crewed flight test announced on 17 October 2025, flown by the company's chief test pilot with founder and chief executive Yon Wui Ng aboard, and completion of transition flight testing on a full-scale demonstrator announced on 3 December 2025. Neither announcement states where the flights took place, and neither mentions the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE connection runs through Autocraft. TCab announced a memorandum of understanding with Autocraft on 6 November 2024 to explore commercial applications of the E20 in the Emirates, and a second, larger memorandum on 16 July 2025 covering up to 350 E20 aircraft for the UAE and the wider MENA region. TCab's own release is explicit that this is a memorandum of understanding rather than a firm purchase order, gives no delivery schedule beyond 'the coming years', and discloses no contract value. Widely circulated figures describing this as a 'one billion dollar order' for 350 aircraft appear only in trade press; no primary source published by either party states a value. This reference site therefore records a memorandum for up to 350 aircraft and no monetary figure.

The identity of the counterparty is worth stating precisely, because the two sides describe it differently. TCab's July 2025 release calls Autocraft a 'state-owned UAE technology enterprise'. The Dubai Airshow organiser's own advanced air mobility preview of 28 August 2025 instead quotes Waleed Alblooshi of K2 describing Autocraft as 'a UAE subsidiary brand under K2 based in Abu Dhabi', and K2's corporate website presents Autocraft as its aviation vertical. K2 is a privately presented Abu Dhabi technology group; no primary document located establishes state ownership. The 'state-owned' characterisation is not published here.

On the Dubai Airshow 2025 question, the primary record supports an Autocraft-badged E20 exhibit rather than a TCab-badged one. The airshow organiser's preview carries K2's statement that it would 'showcase our eVTOL innovation through Autocraft' and unveil an eVTOL model alongside a lounge-style vertiport experience at its stand. TCab's own release of 6 November 2025 states that 'the customized E20 eVTOL has successfully completed its testing phase and is now ready for deployment, marking a major milestone ahead of its upcoming global debut at the Dubai Airshow.' Neither statement describes a flying display, and neither describes flight in UAE airspace. Trade-press reporting that the aircraft was 'nearing first flight in the UAE' is not corroborated by any primary source and is not published here. K2 separately announced on 27 November 2025 a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi Aviation Group and Multi Level Group to accelerate the Autocraft E20+.

Regulatory reality is the clearest part of the picture. The E20's airworthiness work is Chinese: TCab announced that a type certification team meeting chaired by CAAC experts was held on 10 December 2024 and that an Aircraft Evaluation Group review covering operational compliance, pilot training and maintenance standards had been launched. TCab has not published a target certification year. Nothing in any GCAA, TCab, Autocraft or K2 primary document located indicates that the GCAA has accepted an application, issued a validation, granted a test licence or approved any operation involving the E20. Until such a document exists, TCab Tech's UAE status is an announced commercial intention, not an aviation programme.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. [tcab-autocraft-mou-350] TCab Tech — TCab Tech and Autocraft Sign MoU for 350 E20 eVTOLs to Accelerate Commercialization in the UAE and Wider MENA Region operator-ir · accessed 2026-07-28
2. [tcab-autocraft-partnership-2024] TCab Tech — TCab Tech and Autocraft establish strategic partnership to expand the Middle East market with the E20 eVTOL operator-ir · accessed 2026-07-28
3. [tcab-air-silk-road] TCab Tech — TCab Tech Launches 'Air Silk Road Global Pioneer Partnership' to Drive eVTOL Globalization operator-ir · accessed 2026-07-28
4. [dubai-airshow-aam-preview] Dubai Airshow — Dubai Airshow 2025 will set a new pace for Advanced Air Mobility official-news · accessed 2026-07-28
5. [tcab-tct-aeg-caac] TCab Tech — TCab Tech Successfully Held the TCT Meeting and Launched the AEG Review Meeting, Marking Significant Progress in the Certification Process of the E20 eVTOL operator-ir · accessed 2026-07-28
6. [tcab-manned-flight] TCab Tech — Major Milestone: TCab Tech's E20 eVTOL Successfully Completes Manned Flight Test operator-ir · accessed 2026-07-28
7. [tcab-transition-flight] TCab Tech — TCab Tech E20 eVTOL Successfully Completes Transition Flight Tests operator-ir · accessed 2026-07-28
8. [k2-aviation-autocraft] K2 — Aviation (Autocraft) operator-ir · accessed 2026-07-28

Verification flags

• The 'USD 1 billion' / 'firm order for 350 eVTOLs' framing appears only in trade press. TCab's own release says memorandum of understanding, 'up to 350', value undisclosed. Not published.
• TCab's July 2025 release calls Autocraft a 'state-owned UAE technology enterprise'; the Dubai Airshow organiser and K2's own site describe Autocraft as a brand of the Abu Dhabi group K2. State ownership is unconfirmed and not published.
• No primary source states where TCab's crewed flight test (17 October 2025) or transition flight tests (3 December 2025) took place. A UAE location is not established.
• Trade-press reports that the Autocraft-backed E20 was 'nearing first flight in the UAE' are uncorroborated by any primary source and are not published.
• The seed note placing TCab Tech at 'Dubai International Airport' has no primary basis. Dubai Airshow 2025 was held at the Dubai Airshow Site, DWC, and no vertiport association is documented.
• Aircraft naming differs between parties: TCab publishes 'E20', Autocraft/K2 market an 'E20+'. Whether the E20+ is a distinct UAE variant or a marketing name is not established by any primary document.
• No GCAA type certificate, validation, design acceptance, test licence or operational approval relating to TCab Tech or the E20 was located.
• Autocraft operates no primary newsroom of its own that could be located; the UAE side of the partnership is documented only through K2's corporate site and the Dubai Airshow organiser.
• TCab has published no target year for CAAC type certification, and no delivery date for any UAE aircraft.
• K2's announced partnership with Abu Dhabi Aviation Group and Multi Level Group (27 November 2025) is listed on K2's own site; the underlying release page could not be retrieved directly, so its terms are not published.