It will likely be another six years before Daher is in a position to bring a hybrid-electric aircraft to market, based on the France-based company’s latest assessment of the EcoPulse research and development program it is conducting with Airbus and engine maker Safran. By the end of this year, the team expects to have started flight evaluations of the hybrid-electric powertrain using a converted TBM 900 and to have assessed all the lessons learned from this work in 2023.
Daher senior v-p aircraft Nicolas Chabbert said during NBAA-BACE 2022 that it could then be another five years to determine how a production version of the propulsion system could be integrated with either a new or existing aircraft. The technology demonstrator consists of six wing-mounted propellers, each driven by a 50-kW electric motor, as well as the standard nose-mounted Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop. The electric motors will be used during cruise flight and the engine will be employed when more power is required and/or to recharge the batteries.
In addition, Daher also announced that it will now only use blended sustainable aviation fuel for flight operations out of its headquarters at Tarbes-Lourdes Airport in southwestern France. At the NBAA show this week, the company is exhibiting its new Kodiak 900 and TBM 960 models.