Evolito and ElectroFlight

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

A Profusion of Names  Evolito is the new name for YASA motors that fly.  YASA (Yokeless and Segmented Armature) motors are a product of Oxford University research, and have become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz.  Mercedes is now creating and marketing a line of electric vehicles using the YASA motors.  But what of aeronautical applications? With that in mind, Mercedes spun out Evolito, taking YASA skyward with “high-power density, light-weight electric motors and controllers for aerospace applications.”  Evolito’s Managing Director, Gareth Morris, explains, “We’re building the future of electric flight with motors that have the highest power and torque densities in class with the ability to manufacture at scale, whilst achieving efficiencies of over 98%.” Although their web site claims …

HET: Quadrupling the Flux, Quintupling the Torque

Dean Sigler Electric Aircraft Materials, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Linear Laboratories operates (if you take their video at near face value) out of a barn in Texas and partners with Abtery in Sweden.   The partnership is significant, since Abtery is working on a Swedish regional airliner Elise (“Elektrisk Lufttransport i Sverige” or Electric Aviation in Sweden). The project is funded by the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova. And has multiple partners including Chalmers University.  Their goal is to apply the HET (Hunstable Electric Turbine) technology developed by Linear to real-world uses. Swedish Partners Anders Forslund, researcher at Chalmers in Gothenburg, Sweden, leads the development project Elise.  “We started a little later than they did in other countries but now we’re up and running probably faster than they do. Intensive research is ongoing …

Motorcyclist Hums with Electric Bike News

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants Leave a Comment

One tenet of the CAFE Foundation’s outlook is that electric automobiles will be a major source of the new technology that will make electric aviation a practical reality.  Large-scale production numbers for cars mean lower prices, ubiquitous motors and batteries, and demonstrated performance.  Motorcycles offer another source for equipment that could see aircraft applications, since cycles share some of the same criteria for success, including light weight, compactness, and high output of both power and torque – especially true in the ultralight and light sport aircraft range. The motorcycle community’s normally lukewarm assessment of the prospects for battery-powered two-wheelers is heated up considerably in the November issue of Motorcyclist, and that bodes well for electric aircraft. Normally crowded with Harley, …

MotoCzysz Takes Isle of Man in Style

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants Leave a Comment

MotoCzysz, an Oregon-based builder of high-end, high performance motorcycles, won the second Isle of Man electric Tourist Trophy (TTZero – for zero emissions) race today, June 11. The MotoCzysz E1PC eclipsed last year’s overall speed for that event’s winning Agni bike of Cedric Lynch, 87.434 mph, and raised that over 10 percent, to 96.820 mph. It came close to running a 100 mph lap of the island, according to Gizmag, but Mark Miller, the Californian riding for the team, held it back to ensure a finish and a win. It did go through the traps at one point at over 135 mph. Even the Agni Z1 ridden by Rod Barber, was faster than last year, finishing second at an average speed of 89.290 …