Energy production, storage and management for sustainable VTOL aircraft and advanced air mobility

The electrification of aviation is rapidly progressing with the rise of Advanced Air Mobility, which envisions a new era of safe, efficient, and sustainable aerial transportation through the deployment of hybrid electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft across both urban and regional environments. Achieving this vision depends critically on the readiness and integration of onboard energy systems that can support complex and dynamic mission profiles involving distinct power and endurance demands across phases such as take-off, hover, climb, cruise, descent, and precision landing. This paper provides a comprehensive review of energy storage and generation technologies including battery electric systems, hydrogen fuel cells, solar augmented designs, and hybrid electric architectures that enable operational flexibility and improved energy resilience. Central to the realization of energy optimized missions is the role of intelligent energy management systems where artificial intelligence is emerging as a transformative approach. These AI based frameworks allow distributed control of energy flow, adaptive propulsion coordination, and real time decision making across mission objectives such as minimum emissions, maximum range, or minimum energy consumption. The paper concludes with future directions for integrating AI driven control, scalable infrastructure, and aviation ready energy solutions that enable the next generation of intelligent hybrid electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) platforms and sustainable air mobility ecosystems. • Comprehensive review of energy architectures for sustainable VTOL and AAM platforms. • Demonstrates that hybrid-electric propulsion as a pathway to enhanced range and mission flexibility. • Evaluates AI driven energy management for adaptive, real time power optimization. • Analyzes certification, infrastructure, and system integration barriers in AAM deployment. • Defines research gaps towards scalable, low emission VTOL energy solutions.