Diamond Aircraft has selected Safran Electrical & Power to supply the electric motor for the eDA40, an electric version of its DA40.
Diamond officials say the eDA40 will be the first EASA/FAA Part 23 certified electric airplane with Direct Current (DC) fast charging capable of turning around a depleted aircraft in under 20 minutes.
Total flight time is expected to be up to 90 minutes as battery technologies evolve, officials added.
“The eDA40 is expected to reduce operating costs by up to 40% compared to traditional piston aircraft,” company officials said when announcing the collaboration with Paris-based Safran.
Safran’s ENGINeUS 100 will power the eDA40. It delivers 130 kilowatts (kW) maximum at takeoff power. It features an integrated motor controller, Diamond officials explained, noting that thermal management is provided by an optimized air-cooling system.
Certification of the electric motor is planned for mid-2023. Basic EASA certification for the eDA40 is expected by the end of 2023 or early in 2024, company officials add.
For more information about the eDA40 click here.
Hello, I have a question, I love the fact the Diamond is working on an all-electric airplane and have it flying by 2024, I just wanted to know a little bit more on the airplane’s battery pod that is located on the belly of the plane, I wanted to know what is the role on that battery pod?
I don’t see any info on a battery pod ? The website shows the batteries under the cowl.
Regardless of where they are, this aircraft will not be able to fly for more than a few minutes, maybe 30-45, if they allow an added 1,000 lb of empty weight.
These electric aircraft are a total waste of engineering and design effort.
Batteries will never approach the energy density of gasoline. At this point, they have 1/20th of the energy of avgas, by weight.
Then, as mentioned , there is the recharging infrastructure problem and cost.!
Someone really needs to run the numbers on these electric airplane promises. Diamond says they’ll get 90 minutes of flight from a 20 minute charge using a Safran 130 kW motor and some future battery technology. Ignoring the fact that the promised battery technology is nowhere on the horizon, this is still pretty hard to believe.
Assume a flight profile that is 5 minutes at takeoff power of 130 kW, 75 minutes at 60%, and 10 minutes at 30%. That’s a total of 115 kWh. Assuming 90% total charge/discharge efficiency, the depleted aircraft will have to take on 130 kWh. To do that in 20 minutes, you’ll need to supply 390 kW. At the 850 volts that Safran says their motors and batteries run at, that’s 460 amps. Call it 500 amps to account for losses. That will require massive charging cables and connectors and a very large infrastructure investment. Also, heat management will be quite difficult.
For reference, 390 kW is enough power to run a good size subdivision of homes.
You have to note the ‘weasel words’;
” flight time is expected to be up to 90 minutes as battery technologies evolve ”
So, it could be 45 minutes or 60 minutes….and that’s with ‘ evolved’ batteries.!
The numbers that you use look ok to me…. The cost of the charging infrastructure will be huge. A lot more than a 2,000 gallon 100LL , [ or G100UL ] tank.!
Electric motors are so common, why not discuss the battery? That is the most critical element in electric flight, whether your motor is 85% or 95% efficiency at your expected cruise power settings is really not going to increase your length of flight significantly. Betting on future batteries for a certified aircraft is pretty risky considering it would have to be an STC approved replacement…….everyone is still blowing smoke on electric viability. It will come but it isn’t here yet.
Actually , these are very sophisticated motor/ controllers, similar to the electric drives in a Tesla and others.
Packaging 175 HP in a light weight package is a significant engineering advance in motor and controller designs.
The motor controllers are handling 400-500 volt DC power, using high power semiconductors and computer processor controls. [ true fly-by-wire ]
But, as mentioned the huge issue is the battery energy density.
As an example, the Tesla 100 kWhr battery weighs over 1,000 lb. and is effectively equivalent to the energy in 9 gallons of avgas, [ accounting for the 90% efficiency of the electric drive, vs the 30% efficiency of an avgas engine ].
Lithium based batteries are near their max energy density, so I don’t see any electric aircraft having any substantial flight time.
One last issue is the DC fast charger, and it’s high cost and the need for the utility co. to provide the very high power service to supply it, typically 480 vac and 500 amps.!
Both of this are very expensive.