EV Magazine August 2023 | Page 33

“ Vertical take-off aircraft demand a lot of power , and that ' s been one of the issues that ' s limited their wider deployment in the past . With distributed electric propulsion you win on multiple accounts ,” says Jia Xu , CTO , Honeywell UAM and UAS .

“ There ' s the noise benefit , there ' s a safety benefit , uh , but now you can also operate in this vertical takeoff mode without as much penalty as you had historically .”

The innovation we see in eVTOLs is testament to the capabilities of all-electric systems . Electrical components alleviate the need for more space to encapsulate bulky engines and fossil-fuel-driven propulsion systems . This principle is seen in the automotive industry as well with more vehicle manufacturers paying attention to the internal user experience and maximising smaller craft for larger capacity .

We spoke to Honeywell Aerospace to gain a Understanding on aviation from a technology perspective . As the aviation industry evolves , it looks to such organisations to overcome the challenges faced in decarbonising their propulsion and transporting people and packages sustainability .

Honeywell carries out a lot of the work to support these tasks , including the development of certifiable electric motors for aircraft and other mission-critical systems that make them fly . An example of this is the company ’ s work with Vertical Aerospace , which is a UK-based manufacturer of eVTOLs , providing the avionics system — fly-by-wire systems that enable all of the crucial control functions of the aircraft .

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