VoltAero presented the production version of its Cassio 330 electric-hybrid aircraft for sustainable regional transportation.The production configuration represents an evolution of the Cassio 330’s design that reflects VoltAero’s close working relationship with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) airworthiness certification agency throughout the aircraft’s development, applying the company’s Design Organization Approval (DOA).
Multiple factors led to this evolution, resulting in decreased complexity for the Cassio 330’s airworthiness certification and aligning its overall design in compliance with EASA’s latest CS.23 certification specifications for normal category airplanes.
“As we take another step toward the Cassio 330’s production, our strategy remains unchanged: using safe and efficient electric-hybrid propulsion and power technologies that are realistically available today, applying them to a conventional takeoff/landing aircraft for sustainable regional transportation using existing airport infrastructure,” explained Jean Botti, VoltAero’s CEO & Chief Technology Officer, during today’s unveiling event at Le Bourget Airport ahead of the Paris Air Show.
At the heart of VoltAero’s evolution for the Cassio 330 production version is the use of a series-hybrid architecture. A “pusher” electric motor is installed on each side of the aft fuselage, and a thermal engine inside the aircraft serves as a range extender by recharging the onboard batteries. During taxi, takeoff and initial flight phases, the Cassio 330 operates on all-electric propulsion for eco-efficient and quiet operations. The thermal engine recharges the batteries during cruise flight as a range extender.
This series-hybrid architecture reflects a changeover from the Cassio 330’s original parallel-hybrid configuration, which incorporated an in-line combination of an electrical motor and thermal engine to drive a single propeller.
Another visible difference for the Cassio 330’s production configuration is VoltAero’s adoption of a T-tail instead of the original design’s twin booms that supported a high-set horizontal tail. This change eliminates the potential of damage to the twin booms in the event of a propeller blade failure.
