Lilium announced this week that production of the battery packs for its Lilium Jet has commenced. The company expects to conduct the first piloted flight with its eVTOL aircraft by the end of the year and to achieve EASA type certification before 2026.
“Battery technology is central to the goal of delivering sustainable regional air mobility, including overcoming the challenges of developing and industrializing a battery pack that will meet the stringent safety standards of aircraft certification,” said Lilium chief operating officer Yves Yemsi.
Lithium-ion cells with silicon-dominant anodes will enable faster charging and higher power compared with graphite anode cells, according to the company. The aviation-grade battery packs are being developed specifically to meet EASA’s requirements for redundancy, shock resistance, heat resistance, and containment.
In its announcement, Lilium emphasized that its business model is focused on regional air mobility rather than urban air mobility, and the battery packs are designed with power and energy density to support this goal.
Lilium Jets will each have 10 battery packs to help ensure safety. A factory at Lilium’s headquarters near Munich was built for the assembly of the battery packs.
The company announced in February that it established a dedicated propulsion unit assembly line, and it predicts that the first propulsion systems will be finished in Q2 of this year.