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The Delft start-up Venturi has unveiled a concept for its first aircraft, the Echelon 01. It is a battery-electric aircraft with 8 propellers that can carry 44 passengers. Batteries should be easy to replace and upgrade and charge should be completed within 35 minutes.
Venturi aims with the Echelon 01 on the commercial passenger market, although the aircraft can also be used for freight and private transport. The aircraft is 38 meters long and 36 meters wide and can carry 44 passengers, excluding crew.
The company does not yet share specifications about the battery, but does say that it can be easily replaced. If an Echelon 01 flies five times a day, the battery should be replaced after a year and a half, when the state-of-health falls below 90 percent. According to Venturi, when replaced, customers immediately receive an improved battery, which means that they can fly longer than those 550 km.
Batteries that have already been used by aircraft are also reused by Venturi to charge new aircraft. The company wants to install a ReCharge system called ReCharge system at airports, where aircraft are charged with a maximum of 9MW. To avoid overloading the local energy grid, this charging system will use old Echelon 01 batteries. Venturi also talks about robotic charging systems that can connect aircraft to ReCharge after landing.
The Echelon 01 will be equipped with eight propellers, giving the aircraft ‘unparalleled’ redundancy and safety’. Electric propellers are cheaper to make than the turboprop engines of kerosene aircraft, which is why Venturi can more easily fit the aircraft with more propellers. In addition, these propellers make less noise, says the manufacturer.
Venturi says against Luchtvaartnieuws.nl expected to start production in eight years and need a billion euros. A single Echelon 01 should cost about 40 million euros. The range of 550 kilometers would mean that the Echelon 01 can perform about 15 percent of all existing European scheduled flights.
