Hydrogen-electric aircraft plans aired

Element One, the world’s first regional hydrogen-electric passenger aircraft, has been unveiled by HES Energy Systems.

Designed as a zero-emissions aircraft, it merges HES’ ultra-light hydrogen fuel cell technologies with a distributed electric aircraft propulsion design.

Element One can fly four passengers for 500km to 5000km, depending on whether hydrogen is stored in gaseous or liquid form.

HES says the Element One’s performance is way better than any battery-electric aircraft, opening new aerial routes between smaller towns and rural areas.

Originally from Singapore, HES has been working with a number of fast-moving start-ups and SMEs in France during the past year, including Aerospace Valley, the global aviation research and development hub in Toulouse.

“It’s now possible to break past the endurance limits of battery-electric flight using HES’ ultra-light hydrogen energy storage in a distributed propulsion arrangement,” HES founder Taras Wankewycz says.

“Element One’s design paves the way for renewable hydrogen as a long-range fuel for electric aviation.”
Refueling will take no more than 10 minutes using an automated nacelle swap system that applies AGVs and automated warehouse operations such as those used by Amazon and Alibaba.

HES also plans to begin associating on-site hydrogen generation with fuel cell powered unmanned aircraft across a network of hydrogen-ready airports in preparation for larger-scale electric aircraft such as Element One.

HES is now in discussion with industrial-scale hydrogen producers to explore energy-efficient refueling systems using renewable solar or wind energy produced locally.

The company has aligned its zero-carbon aviation roadmap with Wingly, a French start-up that offers flight-sharing services for decentralised and regional air travel.

“We analysed the millions of destination searches made by the community of 200,000 pilots and passengers on our platform and confirm there is a tremendous need for inter-regional transport between secondary cities”, Wingly chief executive officer Emeric de Waziers says. “By combining autonomous emission-free aircraft such as Element One with digital community-based platforms like Wingly and the existing high-density network of airfields, we can change the paradigm. France alone offers a network of more than 450 airfields, but only 10% of these are connected by regular airlines. We will simply connect the remaining 90%.”

Targeting a first flying prototype before 2025, HES is building a technical and commercial consortium involving both the aviation and hydrogen eco-systems.

HES’ parent company H3 Dynamics Holdings is backed by Japan’s SPARX representing Toyota Mirai Creation Fund, ACA Partners, and Capital Management Group.