VerdeGo Makes Move from R&D to Customer Deliveries

Hybrid-electric powerplant manufacturer VerdeGo Aero has shipped the first VH-4T-RD units to customers for pre-certification activities. Powered by a turbine engine, the VH-4T-RD generates 375 kW.

The plan is for customers to be able to accelerate ground and flight testing, although the production-intent 415-kW VH-4T-415 is still under development. Ground testing of the -415 should begin later this year.

According to VerdeGo, hybrid-electric propulsion systems can propel a battery-electric four- to six-seat eVTOL aircraft 10 times farther at a higher cruise speed and are capable of lifting hundreds more pounds of payload.

With an integrated cooling system, the VerdeGo powerplants can run at full power continuously. “For winged VTOL aircraft/drones leveraging distributed electric propulsion, the VH-4T enables long-range missions and convertible flight modes with higher reliability than conventional tiltrotors and greater cruise efficiency than helicopters,” according to VerdeGo Aero. The hybrid-electric powerplant is also available to drive single main rotor systems or propellers in either series or parallel hybrid configurations.

Companies exploring the use of hybrid-electric power can purchase or lease the VH-4T-RD, then switch to the -415 later, using the same mounting points. VerdeGo Aero’s Hybrid Systems Integration Lab in Daytona Beach, Florida, can assist customers with “rapid, cost-effective system-level risk-reduction testings.”