E3.series for all-electric flight

Zuken’s E3.series Selected for ACCEL All-Electric Flight Research Initiative

17 October 2018 – Munich, Germany and Westford, MA, USA – UK-based Electroflight has recently selected E3.series, Zuken’s electrical and fluid engineering solution. Specialists in high performance electric powertrains, Electroflight is using E3.series to design, build, test and commercialize an all-electric aircraft – all within a 24-month timeframe – as part of the Accelerating the Electrification of Flight (ACCEL) research initiative.

ACCEL involves a consortium of partners which aims to address the technical challenges associated with all-electric flight, to develop a more robust supply chain and ultimately contribute to cleaner, greener flight.

Stjohn Youngman, Electroflight’s Programme Manager, comments: “With such a compressed timeframe for the ACCEL aerospace initiative, speed is everything. E3.series was selected because of its ease-of-use, flexibility, and output capability for all data needed to manufacture wiring harnesses, including bills of materials.”

E3.series is already popular in the aerospace industry, and it is fast becoming the wiring harness tool-of-choice within the motorsport industry, where it helps meet racing deadlines. Electroflight plans to take advantage of E3.series’ aerospace/motorsport synergies as it will use System 25 mil-spec motorsport connectors and harness construction techniques on the ACCEL aircraft.

Youngman adds: “We’re at the start of an extremely ambitious R&D project. To get from concept to commercial offering in just two years is unheard of in the aerospace industry. Our learning curve has to be incredibly fast, another reason for selecting Zuken’s E3.series.”

Optimization will be key for many aspects of the design of the ACCEL aircraft as, for all-electric flight, it is necessary to tackle the twin challenges of energy storage capacity and powertrain performance. To keep the weight of the aircraft down, Electroflight will be trying to keep cable runs as short as possible – through the smart placement of sources, switches and loads. In this respect, E3.series’ ability to integrate well with leading MCAD tools was another reason for selection.

www.zuken.com/e3-series
www.electro-flight.com 

About Electroflight

Electroflight is an innovative technology company focussed on accelerating the development, integration and testing of electric powertrains. The team leverages many years’ experience in high performance automotive and motorsport applications to bring pace to aerospace electrification. www.electro-flight.com

About ACCEL

Rolls-Royce is leading a research project known as Accelerating the Electrification of Flight (ACCEL) to explore the use of a high power electrical system in a demonstrator aircraft. In this project Rolls-Royce is working with Electroflight Ltd (UK), specialists in high performance electric powertrains, including energy storage systems. ACCEL has received funded from the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute. https://www.rolls-royce.com/media/our-stories/electrification.aspx#accel