Hybrid-electric architectures are a promising means to achieve clean and efficient aircraft propulsion needed for small, short-range electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) class vehicles. This paper explores the design space for a six-passenger quadrotor hybrid-electric propulsion system and shows that hybrid architectures that are more efficient than engine-only architectures can be built with near-term battery technology (~150 Wh/kg at the pack level). Data obtained shows that hybrid-electric propulsion systems can achieve 28 percent block fuel reduction and 27 percent total energy cost savings over a 120 nautical mile (nmi) mission compared to conventional turboshaft architectures. This work suggests that hybrids are likely the most efficient architectures that can be produced in the near term for this class of vehicle and motivates further development in this area.
Electrical Energy Storage Design Space Exploration for a Hybrid-Electric Six Passenger Quadrotor
2022 IEEE/AIAA ITEC+EATS ; 2022 ; Anaheim, CA, US
Conference paper
No indication
English
High-Fidelity Analysis of Six-Passenger Quadrotor Air Taxi Concept
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2022
|