How This Startup Is Reducing Fuel by 80% in Air Taxis

In this live recording from Verticon, host John Ramstead sits down with Thibault Baldivia, co-founder of Ascendance, a pioneering company in the hybrid-electric aviation space. Thibault shares his journey from working at Airbus on one of the world’s first electric aircraft to building the next generation of hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft at Ascendance. The discussion dives deep into the technical, environmental, and operational advantages of hybrid propulsion systems over fully electric and traditional aircraft, especially in real-world applications where infrastructure and range pose limitations. You’ll also hear insights into Ascendance’s Atea aircraft and its Sterna propulsion system — how they're optimizing fuel efficiency by up to 80% compared to conventional rotorcraft, and why their mission targets existing helicopter markets rather than speculative air taxi concepts. This episode is a must-listen for anyone excited about the future of sustainable aviation and advanced air mobility. Episode Highlights The early electric aviation work at Airbus with the E-Fan project Why hybrid-electric offers a more realistic pathway than full electric Introduction to Ascendance’s flagship VTOL aircraft, the Atea Detailed discussion of Sterna, their unique hybrid propulsion system Operational benefits like in-flight charging and minimal infrastructure needs Engineering challenges of synchronizing batteries and turbines How Ascendance differentiates from others like Vericor in the hybrid space Key Points with Timestamps [00:00:03] Thibault on the lack of VTOL startups during the E-Fan era and early innovation challenges [00:02:00] Founding story of Ascendance and background in Airbus’s electric aviation team [00:03:24] Why hybrid-electric is more viable than pure electric: infrastructure and mission efficiency [00:04:40] Using electric boost for vertical takeoff, turbine for cruise — optimizing for efficiency [00:05:35] Overview of the Atea aircraft: 5-seater, 400 km range, 200 kph speed