ENGINeUS-100 Electric Motor to Power Cassio 330

VoltAero, the French aerospace startup, has announced that it has selected Safran’s ENGINeUS-100 electric motor to power its Cassio 330 electric-hybrid aircraft. The engine supply agreement was signed at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The ENGINeUS-100 will have a maximum take-off rating of well above 150-kilowatts and is to be integrated with a 150+-kilowatt internal-combustion engine to make up the Cassio 330’s proprietary hybrid propulsion unit.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Safran will provide VoltAero a single ENGINeUS-100 motor before the end of 2022. Subject motor will be committed to ground-based endurance testing of the nascent electric-hybrid propulsion system. In 2023, Safran will deliver a flight qualified ENGINeUS-100 with which VoltAero will commence flight testing of its Cassio 330 prototype.

VoltAero CEO and chief technology officer Jean Botti states: “This marks another important step toward the Cassio 330’s first takeoff, initiating the certification program for our Cassio family of airplanes. Cassio will benefit from the high-power density and proven technology that Safran Electrical & Power has applied in its ENGINeUS electric motor product line.”

The Cassio 330 is a single-pilot, four-passenger, Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) aircraft, the numerical designation of which pertains to its combined hybrid-electric power-rating of 330-kilowatts. In all, VoltAero plans to produce three iterations of its Cassio design, each sharing a high degree of modularity and commonality. Certification of the Cassio 330 will be followed by the releases and certifications of the six-seat Cassio 480, with a combined electric-hybrid power output of (you guessed it) 480-kilowatts, and the 10-12-seat, Cassio 660, with a combined electric-hybrid power output of …

VoltAero’s design for the Cassio aircraft family is based on a sleek, aerodynamically optimized fuselage, a forward canard, and an aft-set wing with twin booms that support a high-set horizontal tail—after the fashion of a radically modernized, Cessna 337 Skymaster. Continuing in the Skymaster vein—to at least a partial degree—the Cassio’s electric-hybrid propulsion system will be installed in the aft fuselage and drive a pusher propeller.

Safran Executive Vice President and General Manager for Power division Bruno Bellanger states: “The ENGINeUS-100 agreement signed today extends our excellent partnership with VoltAero that began in 2019, and it reinforces our common vision for carbon-free aviation. This is another success for our ENGINeUS range of engines, ideally positioned in the general aviation market for electric aircraft, and it represents a further step towards zero-emission airplanes.”

Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation, defense, and space sectors. The company employs 76,800 individuals and, in 2021, hauled in an impressive 15.3-billion Euros.

FMI: www.safran-group.com