VoltAero, a French company that is developing the Cassio 330 electric-powered aircraft, will use a Safran ENGINeUS 100 electric motor as the powerplant for its hybrid-electric system.
The ENGINeUS 100 engine will -according to Safran- have a maximum take-off power “well in excess” of 150 kW (200 horsepower) and will operate in conjunction with a 150 kW conventional engine. Thus, the hybrid propulsion unit will produce around 440 horsepower and should grant the model very good performance characteristics. The motors will be managed by an integrated controller and will be air-cooled.
Under the terms of the agreement between VoltAero and Safran -signed during the last Farnborough Air Show in England- the latter must deliver an ENGINeUS 100 before the end of the year. It will be used for ground endurance testing of the propulsion system. The first flight-ready engine should be delivered in 2023 and will enable flight testing to begin. Certification of the propulsion plant is scheduled for mid-2023.
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Jean Botti, CEO and CTO of VoltAero, noted in this regard that “this marks another important step in the Cassio 330 program, and is the kick-off of the certification program for our family of aircraft.” Bruno Bellanger, executive vice president, and general manager of Safran Electrical & Power’s Power division remarked that this agreement “extends our partnership with VoltAero, which began in 2019. This is a further step in our quest for an emission-free industry.”
The Cassio family will feature three variants. These will share a high degree of modularity and commonality. The first to be certified will be the Cassio 330, with a four/five-seat capacity and 330 kW of power. The next, the six-seater Cassio 480, will have a combined electric-hybrid output of 480 kW. The Cassio 600, finally, will be able to carry 10 to 12 passengers and will have an output of 600 kilowatts.
The propulsion system will be installed aft of the fuselage on all variants, in a pusher configuration similar to that of the Rutan Long-EZ. The Cassio family of aircraft features an aerodynamically-optimized fuselage, forward canards, and a wing with two arms supporting a large horizontal tail.
VoltAero and Safran have -since 2019- logged more than 10,000 km of test flights with their Cassio 1 aircraft, which uses two ENGINeUS 45s (rated at 45 kW) installed in the wings. The ENGINeUS product line features versions from 45 to 500 kW power ratings.
