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Airflow teams up with VerdeGo Aero to explore hybrid-electric powertrain option in its eSTOL aircraft

Air­flow is to explore using VerdeGo Aero’s hybrid-elec­tric pow­er­train in its eSTOL air­craft, which could increase the range to four to ten times that of a bat­tery-elec­tric sys­tem.

As part of a new part­ner­ship between the two com­pa­nies, Air­flow has said it shows the advance­ment of elec­tric propul­sion sys­tems for air­craft that will pro­vide long-range capa­bil­i­ty, reduce turn­around time on the ground and enable back-to-back mis­sions before refu­elling or recharg­ing.

Marc Aus­man, CEO and Co-Founder of Air­flow, said: “Our abil­i­ty to rapid­ly move car­go from a ware­house direct­ly to anoth­er ware­house helps e‑commerce com­pa­nies cen­tralise inven­to­ry and reduce car­ry­ing costs. These capa­bil­i­ties are made pos­si­ble by con­tin­ued strate­gic
part­ner­ships like VerdeGo Aero.”

VerdeGo Aero’s diesel (Jet‑A) hybrid sys­tem com­bines a 180KW gen­er­a­tor with a high-pow­er bat­tery pack that reduces emis­sions and fuel burn by 35 per cent, com­pared to con­ven­tion­al tur­bine pow­er­trains.

The com­pa­ny’s col­lab­o­ra­tion with Air­flow fol­lows a sim­i­lar agree­ment with XTI Air­craft, where it will sup­ply the diesel-hybrid pow­er­train to Tri­Fan 200 mod­el.

Eric Bartsch, CEO & Co-founder VerdeGo Aero, added: “VerdeGo Aero is excit­ed to be apply­ing its hybrid-elec­tric pow­er­train sys­tems for the Air­flow eSTOL air­craft. Verde­Go’s hybrid pow­er­train will enable the Air­flow eSTOL to play a sig­nif­i­cant role in car­go and logis­tics mis­sions around the world.”

Air­flow says its eSTOL plat­form will be one of the first elec­tric air­craft designed for aer­i­al logis­tics, pro­vid­ing a high­er pay­load at a low­er cost than eVTOL car­go air­craft.

Once oper­a­tional, its aer­i­al logis­tics ser­vice will be able to move car­go and time-sen­si­tive med­ical sup­plies direct­ly between ware­hous­es with­out using tra­di­tion­al air­ports.

Airflow’s eSTOL air­craft requires less than 150 feet to take off and land using a 300-foot run­way, about the length of three heli­pads next to each oth­er. The fixed-wing mod­el will have the abil­i­ty to car­ry 500lbs of car­go and it is expect­ed to go into pro­duc­tion by 2025.

The com­pa­ny is pro­gress­ing well with devel­op­ments, and began flight tests of a sub-scale demon­stra­tor ear­li­er this year.

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Jason Pritchard

Jason Pritchard is the Editor of eVTOL Insights. He holds a BA from Leicester's De Montfort University and has worked in Journalism and Public Relations for more than a decade. Outside of work, Jason enjoys playing and watching football and golf. He also has a keen interest in Ancient Egypt.

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