Lilium, developer of an all-electric vertical take-off and touchdown (eVTOL) jet, is partnering with Honeywell and DENSO, who will co-develop and manufacture the Lilium Jet’s electrical motor that may energy the Lilium Jet’s engines.
Honeywell is already growing the Lilium Jet’s avionics and flight management techniques and invested in Lilium in 2021.
A pacesetter in aerospace applied sciences with greater than 100 years of expertise, Honeywell additionally has an alliance with automotive big DENSO to develop aerospace electrical propulsion options. By means of this collaboration, the Lilium Jet’s e-motor will profit from Honeywell’s aerospace experience in addition to DENSO’s expertise in high-quality quantity manufacturing.
The Lilium e-motor is a proprietary, high-performance system, on which Lilium, DENSO and Honeywell groups have been working for practically two years. It’s anticipated to convey distinctive efficiency and reliability with zero working emissions sometimes related to business jet engines.
An air-cooled design provides structural simplicity and ease of upkeep in contrast with conventional liquid cooling techniques, and due to this fact has the potential to scale back plane working prices considerably.
The e-motor has its rotor and stator in a centrifugal or radial configuration, in comparison with conventional axial designs. This lowers the part’s weight, manufacturing prices and susceptibility to overseas object harm. It additionally boasts industry-leading energy density, with the primary prototypes designed to extract greater than 100 kW of energy from a system weighing simply over 4 kg.
Lilium’s Procurement technique is to have interaction with the expertise suppliers with probably the most appropriate experience. We’re already making nice progress with Honeywell on its Honeywell Anthem built-in flight deck and flight management computer systems, and we’re delighted to deepen our relationship by additionally partnering with Honeywell and DENSO on our e-motor. The collaboration with these two powerhouses takes us additional alongside the trail to revolutionizing regional air mobility.
—Yves Yemsi, Chief Working Officer of Lilium
Lilium has additionally chosen Aernnova to collaborate on the Lilium Jet’s propulsion mounting system. Aernnova is without doubt one of the largest Tier 1 aerospace suppliers, offering aerostructure for firms corresponding to Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.
A propulsion mounting system or “flap”, the construction that types the rear a part of the wings and entrance aerofoils, is without doubt one of the Lilium Jet’s main elements, producing raise by interacting with airflow from the engine. It additionally homes the propulsion and vectoring techniques chargeable for vertical and horizontal flight.
Electrical jet engines built-in into the wing flaps present benefits in payload, aerodynamic effectivity and a decrease noise profile, whereas additionally offering thrust vector management to maneuver the Lilium Jet by each section of flight.
Aernnova and Lilium will work collectively on the design, manufacture, and provide of the Lilium Jet’s flap construction.
The Lilium Jet’s propulsion mounting system will characteristic a posh and distinctive design. The built-in system will serve a number of features and be modular and scalable. It’ll make the most of light-weight materials corresponding to carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy.
