A New Perspective on Battery-Electric Aviation, Part II: Conceptual Design of a 90-Seater

A New Perspective on Battery-Electric Aviation, Part II: Conceptual Design of a 90-Seater

de Vries, R. (Elysian Aircraft)
Wolleswinkel, Rob E. (Elysian Aircraft)
Hoogreef, M.F.M. (TU Delft Flight Performance and Propulsion)
Vos, Roelof (TU Delft Flight Performance and Propulsion)

2024

Battery-electric aviation is commonly believed to be limited to small aircraft and is therefore expected have a negligible impact on the decarbonization of the aviation sector. In this paper we argue that, with the correct choice of design parameters and top-level aircraft requirements, the addressable market is actually substantial. To demonstrate this, the Class-II sizing of a battery-electric 90-seater is performed, and the environmental impact is assessed in terms of well-to-wake CO2-equivalent emissions per passenger-kilometer. The resulting 76-ton aircraft achieves a battery-powered useful range of 800 km for a pack-level energy density of 360 Wh/kg. For this range, it has an energy consumption of 167 Wh per passenger-kilometer and an environmental impact well below that of kerosene, eSAF, or hydrogen-based aircraft alternatives and comparable to land-based modes of transport. These results indicate that, to successfully reduce the climate impact of the aviation sector, battery-electric aircraft should not be designed as a niche product operating from small airfields but as commercial transport aircraft competing with fuel-based regional and narrowbody aircraft.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:67714513-f099-4952-bebf-955397696b19

https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2024-1490

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. (AIAA)

978-1-62410-711-5

Proceedings of the AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum

AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, 2024-01-08 → 2024-01-12, Orlando, United States

Institutional Repository

conference paper

© 2024 R. de Vries, Rob E. Wolleswinkel, M.F.M. Hoogreef, Roelof Vos