Solar Impulse’s Chief Executive Officer and pilot André Borschberg is co-founder of H55, which is developing an electric demonstrator aircraft, ‘aEro1’. It has now flown more than fifty hours.
“Electric air transport will undoubtedly disrupt the aviation industry,” he says.
“Fifteen years ago, when I started with Solar Impulse, electric propulsion was anecdotal. Today is a major development path of every large aeronautical organisation, as well as attracting many start-ups and new players. What is science fiction today will be the reality of tomorrow.
Electric propulsion is very promising. It’s highly efficient and lighter, which are key advantages in the world of transportation. Due to the flexibility and reliability of software, innovative designs such as VTOL are in fact possible.
Electric aeroplanes are therefore cost-efficient and considerably less expensive to operate than traditional combustion [engine] aircraft. And all with much less noise and [a reduced] environmental footprint
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