ITP Aero is leading two R&D projects on electric propulsion systems for urban and regional mobility, with a total budget of 13 million euros, which will be the first propulsion systems of these characteristics made in Spain.This milestone is another step forward in ITP Aero’s market diversification strategy.
Despite the fact that the electrification of ground propulsion systems has reached a high level of technological and manufacturing maturity, the strict safety and energy density requirements applicable to air transport make it difficult to use electric propulsion in this sector. For this reason, ITP Aero is committed to the development of disruptive technologies that enable more sustainable air transport systems. With the aim of integrating the entire system, the aeronautics company is pursuing five different propulsion system variants with a very wide power range from 60 to 600 kilowatts. The urban and regional electric mobility sector is set to be a growth market over the next decade and ITP Aero is preparing technologically for the anticipated demand.
These zero-emission electric propulsion systems will target urban and inter-urban mobility applications, such as air taxis, which can provide fast city-to-airport services, intra- and inter-city travel, emergency services and logistics operations. In the high power range, these distributed electric propulsion systems can be used in regional applications with limited range. In a second phase and in line with ITP Aero’s disruptive technology development plan, the company plans to hybridise these types of propulsion systems for use in regional aviation.
Erlantz Cristóbal, CTO of ITP Aero, commented: “At ITP Aero we are committed to the decarbonisation of the aeronautical sector and distributed electric propulsion is a key technology to achieve this. These projects are a milestone in our market diversification strategy, and we foresee that by the end of this decade there will be a strong development in the demand for this type of aircraft, reaching figures of between 300 and 600 aircraft per year”.