French airplane maker VoltAero has begun flight testing on a hybrid-electric-powered airplane series called Cassio. The Cassio 1 testbed is powered by two electric motors, mounted on the wings, and two piston engines—a pusher and a puller—on the fuselage. The testbed looks like a Cessna 337 Skymaster and has a seating configuration for six people. VoltAero plans to produce a Cassio product line ranging from four to nine seats.
VoltAero Flight Tests Hybrid-Electric Cassio
Key Takeaways:
- VoltAero has begun flight testing its hybrid-electric Cassio 1 airplane, featuring two wing-mounted electric motors and two fuselage-mounted piston engines on a six-seat testbed.
- The company plans to develop a Cassio product line ranging from four to nine seats, powered by a proprietary hybrid-electric module that will both propel the aircraft and recharge its batteries.
- Production Cassio aircraft are projected to fly 3.5 to 5 hours, achieve speeds over 200 knots (for the nine-seat version), with an ambitious delivery target of 2021-2022.
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