CASSIO - Hybrid Electric Modular General Aviation Aircraft

General aviation is on the cusp of a transformation. The arrival of hybrid electric aircraft will unleash a revolution, driven by pent-up demand for fast and convenient regional travel. Electric air will enable much faster door-to-door travel than highways or high-speed rail. And it will do this at lower cost, without need for the massive, inflexible ground infrastructure. The benefit for the environment will be equally dramatic. Voltaero SAS is a French start-up that has developed the first in the world parallel and series distributed hybrid propulsion system that will power a family of general aviation aircraft, CASSIO, with the seating capacity of four to 10 passengers. Benefitting from more than 50 years of pioneering expertise of its founders, Voltaero is taking electric aircraft to an entirely new level. A flight demonstrator have validated the CASSIO configurations in-flight and on the ground, de-risking them for airworthiness certification and the subsequent application on new-production airplanes to be built using strong, lightweight materials. CASSIO propulsion system delivers a total output of 600 kW, allowing for the flight range of up to 1,200 km in a heavy-hybrid mode, offering 3,5 hours of flight autonomy. Since most of the short-haul routes in Europe lie within the distance of 100 to 1000 km, CASSIO will become a new mode of transport that will enable access to more communities in less time, enhance regional mobility, alleviate road congestion problems, - doing it all in a safe, a customer- and environmentally-friendly way. Based on the range required by the customer and the flight profile the CASSIO aircraft will be configured for production in three modular concepts: • CASSIO 330 - four-seater aircraft (range up to 200 km) • CASSIO 480 - six-seater (range of 200 – 600 km) • CASSIO 600 - ten-seater (range of over 600 km) Fuel economy and CO2 reduction will vary from 20% in heavy hybrid mode, to 50% in mid hybrid, and to 100% in pure electric.