RuAviation

Nearly 100 different types of electrically powered aircraft are in development around the world. Most of the projects relate to general aviation or urban air cabs because these smaller aircraft require less total power and are less constrained by the gravimetric power density of the battery.

Most of the development takes place in the traditional centers of aerospace engineering: Europe and the United States, which account for 45% and 40% of development, respectively. Nevertheless, there are developments in other countries, in particular the South Korean CopterPlane CP-01, the Ehang eVTOL in China, the Eviation regional aircraft in Israel.

In Russia, the development of electric and hybrid-electric aircrafts, as well as electric aircraft engine technologies, is being carried out by the Central Institute of Aviation Motors, the Joint Stock Company, SibNIIA, UGATU and the Ecolibri design bureau, which is developing a vertical takeoff and landing passenger aircraft (SVPP, eVTOL). This is the only domestic project of hybrid-electric aircraft, the creation of which is carried out according to the current aviation norms and rules.

Ecolibri team also creates Ecolibri EM-01 electric motor for its aircraft, which will comply with the flightworthiness standards for aircraft engines NLG-33. Horizontal flight of Ecolibri is supposed to be performed by means of two electric engines with push propellers. Takeoff and landing are provided by eight propellers mounted in pairs on two longitudinal beams. The main feature of Ecolibri EM-01 is the electric drive with gearless transmission, which allows increasing the power performance, reliability and engine life.

According to the Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Council of Ecolibri, the ex-head of PJSC IL Aleksey Rogozin, the aircraft will have the range up to 1200 km, flight speed – about 270 km / h, a payload of up to 500 kg. “The aircraft and the electric engine are created strictly in accordance with the requirements of aviation legislation, which will ensure its certification and real operation in commercial and other special purposes,” he told RIA Novosti.

Rogozin explained that there are two fundamentally different approaches to creating electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles.

Passenger copters (multi-rotor vehicles), which usually have from four to sixteen engines, and their creation is often engaged in the emergence of the industries of IT, UAVs and automotive industry. An example in Russia is Hi-Fly.

Convertoplanes (vertical takeoff airplanes). They are more complex, more often hybrid, and usually have a wing to create lift and thus increase the efficiency of horizontal flight. Such aircraft are usually created by developers from the aircraft industry. An example in Russia is the Ecolibri.

The only thing that unites these concepts is an electric motor. It can be used to create modern vertical takeoff and landing aircraft – both convertorcraft and passenger copters. The compact size of electric motors, their low weight and high efficiency make it possible to create a distributed propulsion system that is inaccessible to traditional solutions based on gas turbines. Also only on the basis of the electric motor there is an opportunity to use new promising sources of energy: lithium batteries and fuel cells, including hydrogen. Lithium batteries are far from perfect yet, but their specific characteristics are growing by about five percent every year.

“Only thanks to the electric motor is it actually possible to create aircraft that can be used inside cities, and this seemingly fantastic direction is what has already attracted billions of dollars of investment in the industry over the past few years,” says Alexei Rogozin. – The electric motor makes it possible to create aircrafts that are many times quieter than those built according to traditional schemes, which removes one of the obstacles to the development of urban aviation. Despite the fact that no city in Russia has yet publicly announced the conditions for the integration of such vehicles and drones into its infrastructure, there are dozens of such cities abroad.

The expert believes that in order for the industry of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to appear in Russia, it requires large investments and active long-term work of many best engineers, but so far the efforts made are not enough. But in a couple of years America, Europe and China will start to actively use electric aviation.