BAE & Jaunt developing electric drive for flying taxis
The British company BAE Systems and the US American Jaunt Air Mobility have agreed to cooperate in the development of energy management systems for electric flight taxis.
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Air Race E unveils first electric aircraft for contest
The Airbus-backed air racing tournament Air Race E unveiled the first racing e-plane at the Dubai Air Show. The ‘White Lightning’ is built by Condor Aviation based in the UK.
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NASA plans electric test flights by end of 2020
NASA presented an early version of its X-57 Maxwell all-electric passenger aircraft. The electric aircraft is based on the Tecnam P2006T twin-engine propeller aircraft, in which the combustion engines have been replaced by 14 electric motors. The first test flight is scheduled for the end of 2020.
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Electro.Aero presents DC charging for electric aircraft
The Australian company Electro.Aero has developed a DC charging solution especially for electric aircraft. The portable Electro.Aero Charger Rapid 30 delivers a charging power of up to 30 kW. The first customer is the US aircraft company Ampaire.
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Volocopter completes first manned test flight
Volocopter has completed the first manned test flight with their 2X electric aircraft in Singapore. The pilot covered a distance of approx. 1.5 km at an average height of 40 meters.
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Lilium achieves complex maneuvers in test flights
The Munich-based German startup Lilium has published new images of its all-electric Lilium jet on the occasion of the now completed first phase of flight tests. The vertical take-off aircraft (VTOL) now flies increasingly complex manoeuvres at speeds over 100 km/h. The new Lilium Jets are now available in a variety of different models.
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Audi reconsiders flying car project
According to a media report, Audi has discontinued work on the autonomous electric car drone Pop Up Next, which was presented last year together with Airbus and Italdesign, and intends to reevaluate their cooperation with Airbus.
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Porsche joins Boeing in Urban Air Mobility market
Porsche and Boeing signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore what they consider the market for urban air mobility (UAM). As part of the partnership, the companies will create an international team to gather insight on new mobility applications.
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Kamag presents electric catering vehicle for all aircrafts
Kamag presents the new E-Catering Wiesel (ECW) at the Inter Airport Europe trade show. According to the manufacturer, the catering vehicle for loading and unloading commercial aircraft is the first to have an electro-hydraulic drive with no harmful emissions and also speaks of “unrivalled range”.
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SAS and Finnair join Nordic Network for Electric Aviation
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Finnair have joined other partners including Icelandair in the Nordic Network for Electric Aviation (NEA). The partners aim to jointly expand knowledge and cooperation.
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EasyJet to launch hybrid route between Amsterdam & London
EasyJet plans to deploy plug-in hybrid aircraft on its routes between Amsterdam and London airports within the next ten years. To achieve this, EasyJet is cooperating with Airbus and Wright Electric.
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Geely invests €50M in Volocopter air taxis
The German airport taxi start-up Volocopter has secured 50 million euros in a new financing round led by the Chinese Geely Group. The new funds will be used to bring Volocopter’s electric aircraft to commercial launch within the next three years.
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Quantum Air orders 26 e-aircraft from Bye Aerospace
Quantum Air of Los Angeles has ordered 26 small electric aircraft from Bye Aerospace. This includes 22 units of the four-seater eFlyer 4, two two-seater eFlyer 2 and two electric planes still in development.
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Embraer presents electric airplane prototype
The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer converts its agricultural plane EMB-203 Ipanema into a fully electric aircraft. Now the prototype has been presented, which will take off for its maiden flight next year.
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Volocopter presents design of future commercial air-taxi
Volocopter has just revealed the design of its latest model VoloCity. This is the fourth generation of the electric VTOL from the German company – and the basis for the Volocopter’s planned air taxi service.
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Stuttgart University working on electric aircraft control
Electric wing end propulsion can simplify the control of aircraft in the future. At least this is the conclusion drawn after the first crewed test flights of the “icaré wtp” solar plane equipped with two electric wingtip propellers (wtp).
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Oxis develops lighter Li-S cells for Bye Aerospace
British battery specialist Oxis Energy is cooperating with US aircraft manufacturer Bye Aerospace to develop lightweight lithium-sulfur cells for battery packs in future Bye Aerospace electric aircraft.
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ZeroAvia makes “significant advances” for FC flight
Californian start-up ZeroAvia is developing a fuel cell propulsion system for airplanes and claims to be making “significant progress”. The engine will be ready for production by 2022 and will be used in regional aircraft.
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EASA releases new electric aircraft regulations
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has adopted a framework plan for battery electric and hybrid electric vertical take-off aircraft in Europe: With the “Special Condition”, the designers now have the first specifications for this group of aircraft.
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Paris may offer flying cabs by Airbus at 2024 Olympics
Airbus, Aeroports de Paris and the Paris Transport Authority are exploring the feasibility of using autonomous flying taxis to carry visitors from Charles de Gaulle Airport into the city during the 2024 Olympics.
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Electric aircraft by H55 takes off for 90 minutes
The Swiss electric aircraft startup H55 by solar pioneer André Borschberg has completed its maiden flight. Manufactured by BRM Aero and powered by the H55 propulsion system, the Bristell Energic is an all-electric aircraft with two seats for pilot training that can stay in the air for 90 minutes.
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Airbus & partners develop hybrid aircraft EcoPulse
Airbus, Safran and Daher have developed a business aircraft with hybrid-electric propulsion and scheduled the demo model’s maiden flight to take place in three years. This consortium is taking a different path than Ampaire with its hybrid aircraft though.
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First order: Ampaire’s hybrid aircraft Cessna 337
A few days after the maiden flight of its hybrid aircraft based on a Cessna 337, Ampaire announces its first order. Personal Airline Exchange (PAX) has ordered 50 of the converted parallel hybrid aircraft, with an option for 50 more.
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Siemens sells eAircraft business to Rolls Royce
Siemens is selling their eAircraft business unit for electric plane motors to Rolls-Royce. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
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MTU is participating in the hybrid Silent Air Taxi
The German engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines wants to join e.SAT GmbH from Aachen as a technology partner and shareholder. The Aachen-based company just recently presented a hybrid aircraft – the Silent Air Taxi.
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Melbourne to pilot Uber Air’s flying taxis
Uber has selected Australia as the first “international market” for its planned e-flight taxi service Uber Air. Melbourne be the third city to pilot the program following Dallas and Los Angeles. Test flights are scheduled to start next year and commercial operations from 2023.
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Silent Air Taxi: A new hybrid aircraft from Germany
The next project of the Aachen electric car pioneer Günther Schuh has a title: e.SAT. The company has presented the hybrid-electric small aircraft Silent Air Taxi together with the RWTH Aachen University and the Aachen University of Applied Sciences.
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London: Lilium plans software development for air taxis
The startup Lilium from Munich wants to establish a “first-class software team” in London. Hundreds of high-end software jobs are to be created in the British capital. For the project, Lilium is getting some prominent managers on board.
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Maiden flight for the largest hybrid plane to date
US manufacturer Ampaire has announced the take-off of the supposed world’s largest hybrid electric aircraft to date. The Ampaire 337 had its maiden flight in California and is expected to complete commercial flights in two years.
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Amazon’s new delivery drone (video)
Amazon has just demonstrated its newest fully electric delivery drone at the re:Mars conference in Las Vegas. The drone is to fly up to 25 kilometres and be able to deliver parcels weighing up to 2.3 kilograms within 30 minutes. Amazon did not specify where the “Prime Air” service would start.
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