Embraer announced the Phenom 300EV on 14 July 2026, the third iteration of the most popular light jet in the world for 14 consecutive years, and the one detail that will get the most attention from anyone who has spent time in small aircraft is this: in the event the pilot becomes incapacitated, the plane will land itself.
The EV stands for evolution rather than electric, a distinction worth making early given the name. The aircraft retains the twin Pratt and Whitney Canada PW353E1 engines of the Phenom 300E, the jet it is replacing in production, and the platform is the same. What Embraer has done is layer a significant package of safety technology, avionics upgrades and cabin refinements over a foundation that has been the benchmark for light jets since the original Phenom 300 launched over a decade ago.
The headline feature is Garmin Emergency Autoland, making the 300EV the largest business jet in the world to carry the system. If the pilot is incapacitated, the aircraft executes a fully automated landing at the nearest suitable airport, communicating with air traffic control, managing the descent and approach, and putting the aircraft on the ground without any input from the cabin. The system has been available on smaller piston and turboprop aircraft for several years but has not previously been certified on a jet of this size and speed.
Supporting this is an Embraer-developed Multi-Purpose Electronic Controller that integrates rudder-by-wire and other electronically controlled functions, reducing pilot workload across normal operations as well as emergency scenarios. Autobrake is included as a class-exclusive feature, supporting both landings and takeoffs. The avionics suite remains the Garmin G3000 Prodigy Touch, with three large flight displays and a pair of touchscreen controllers, but the 300EV adds 3D taxiway routing, runway occupancy awareness, and a synthetic vision guidance system to what was already one of the more capable cockpit packages in the light jet segment.
On performance, the 300EV adds 430 pounds of payload capacity over the 300E and extends the range slightly from 2,010 nautical miles to 2,055 to 2,065 nautical miles depending on configuration. Embraer positions this as enough to fly Aspen to New York, or London to Athens, without a fuel stop, which covers most of what a light jet in this category is actually asked to do. The aircraft remains the fastest light jet in production.
Inside, the upgrades are focused on connectivity and comfort. Factory-installed Gogo Galileo low-Earth orbit satellite connectivity comes as standard, with Starlink available as a retrofit option through a supplemental type certificate for existing operators. The cabin also gets an odourless vacuum lavatory, improved temperature control, an air ionisation system, True Blue Power lithium-ion batteries, and a redesigned refreshment centre that can accommodate a hot beverage machine of the owner’s choice, which is a small detail that matters considerably on a long leg.
The list price is $13,995,000, modestly above the base Phenom 300E but not far removed from a well-specced late example of the outgoing model. Embraer will stop accepting retail orders for the 300E once its remaining production slots are filled, and is targeting triple certification from Brazil’s ANAC, the FAA and EASA before the end of 2026, with a demonstrator aircraft also planned for this year. First deliveries are scheduled for 2028.
More than 930 Phenom 300 family aircraft have been delivered since the original launched, and Embraer delivered 72 of them in 2025 alone. For a light jet in a market where competitors have come and gone and come back again, that consistency of demand says more about the aircraft than any specification sheet.
