Daher On Track for Hybrid-electric Airplane in 2027

Daher will begin the conceptual design phase later this year of a hybrid-electric TBM model, said aviation division senior v-p Nicolas Chabbert recently at the 2024 Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo. The end product will be influenced by the TBM 940-based EcoPulse technology demonstrator that was developed and is now being tested in partnership with Safran and Airbus. Chabbert announced the hybrid-electric model last year at Sun ’n Fun, pledging to have it in service in 2027.

While he intends to keep that schedule, he told BJT that “it’s not an easy certification path for hybrid-electric aircraft. At Daher, we have the advantage of knowing how to certify products. But, for example, high-voltage electrical system certification is still an unknown path. Despite that, we’ll start outlining aircraft specifications later this year.”

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To date, EcoPulse has performed 14 “e-flights” using its six 50-kilowatt electric power units, the turbogenerator, and six sets of electric thrusters installed along the wing—since November 10. Under this Phase 3 testing, the aircraft’s APU has logged 10 hours and the high-voltage battery pack has logged six hours. Daher has also done “identification flights” that are providing data to establish comparisons with Airbus computer models.

Up next are noise flight tests, followed by fully opening the envelope and aircraft configurations that will mark the completion of Phase 3. Follow-on Phase 4 tests will focus on the hybrid-electric system.