Northwest Aerospace News February | March 2019 Issue No. 7 | Page 26

B
atteries will be a major challenge; powering an aircraft
requires a completely different level of battery power,
endurance and reliability than powering a car, plus the
airplane’s systems will need electricity too.
Zunum also has competition in the electric aircraft space.
Airbus has teamed with Siemens and Rolls Royce on an
electric-powered jet and they’ve announced their intention
to have a hybrid-electric demonstrator plane flying by 2020.
Eviation Aircraft of Israel is flying a three-engine electric
turbo prop prototype. Start-up Wright Electric has teamed
with British budget airline EasyJet to develop a short-range
electric aircraft with 180 seats. Ampaire is trying to get FAA
certification for retrofitted electric engines.
And United Technologies has announced plans, once it
completes its merger with Rockwell Collins, to begin de-
veloping technology that will allow it to enter the electronic
aircraft market, either as a major supplier of critical compo-
nents, or as an OEM itself.
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
However, this can be a confirmation of things to come
and Zunum has some momentum.
The company just inked an engine supplier deal with
French manufacturer Safran last year. Safran plans
to modify helicopter engines for Zunum, which the
company hopes to trial in a flying testbed in 2019.