China’s COMAC Wants To Build An Electric Passenger Aircraft

[beijingwalker]

China’s COMAC Wants To Build An Electric Passenger Aircraft​

July. 23 2023

COMAC collaborates with major battery manufacturer for the development of a new type of electric aircraft.

Photo: Jordan Tan / Shutterstock

SUMMARY​

• Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL), and Shanghai Jiaotong University have formed a joint venture called COMAC CATL Aviation Co., Ltd. to develop fixed-wing electric aircraft.
• The new joint venture will focus on pre-research for an electric aircraft, but it is still in the early stages and a long way from production.
• The establishment of this joint venture suggests a potential application scenario for CATL's solid-state batteries, which have a single-cell energy density of up to 500Wh/kg. However, mass production of these batteries has not yet started.

On July 19th, COMAC, CATL, and Shanghai Jiaotong University jointly established a joint venture named COMAC CATL Aviation Co., Ltd. According to the business registration information, COMAC CATL Aviation Co., Ltd. has a registered capital of 600 million yuan ($83 million) in the Lingang Area of Shanghai.

The legal representative of COMAC CATL Aviation Co., Ltd. is Qian Zhongyan. He currently serves as the Chief of the COMAC Beijing Civil Aircraft Technology Research Center and was formerly the Deputy Chief Designer of the COMAC C919.

COMAC plays a vital role in achieving the industrialization of China's civil aviation sector. Currently, COMAC has completed the production and delivery of two China-manufactured aircraft, the ARJ21 regional jet, and the C919 passenger aircraft.

On the other hand, CATL is a global leader in the field of power batteries, holding a significant market share in China's power battery installation, which has surpassed 50%.

Long way ahead of battery application on civil aircraft​

The establishment of the new joint venture company is aimed at a pre-research project for an electric aircraft to develop a fixed-wing electric aircraft. However, this project is still in the initial pre-research stage at the COMAC Beijing Research Center and is a long way from production.

In April of this year, CATL released a new generation of batteries called "solid-state batteries." The company also announced that it is involved in the cooperative development of civilian electric aircraft projects. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously stated that electric passenger planes would be feasible if the energy density of batteries surpasses 450Wh/kg, providing more power with lighter batteries.

However, currently, available production batteries do not meet the high demands of electric aircraft. CATL's latest third-generation CTP technology Kirin battery has an energy density of 255Wh/kg, enabling an easy 1000 km range for electric vehicles. However, it still falls short of the high specific energy requirements for electric aircraft.

As the latest result of CATL's material and material system innovation, the solid-state battery has a single-cell energy density of up to 500Wh/kg. Still, it has not yet entered mass production. Establishing the joint venture with COMAC could potentially indicate a direct application scenario for CATL's solid-state batteries.

Reducing carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality are major focuses for the future development of the global civil aviation industry, leading aircraft manufacturers to explore alternative power sources to replace traditional fuels.

Even before this, COMAC had already begun researching new energy aircraft. In 2019, the company successfully conducted test flights of its new energy demonstrator "Featherling H," which utilizes a hybrid power system primarily based on hydrogen fuel and electricity

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has revealed that Airbus is investing heavily in the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft project. "We believe that this type of aircraft will have a very strong market demand at the right time and will also be an excellent platform for us to develop decarbonization technologies further. Once we achieve breakthroughs in these technologies, we can promote them in other products such as commercial aircraft and helicopters."

China’s COMAC Wants To Build An Electric Passenger Aircraft

COMAC collaborates with major battery manufacturer for the development of a new type of electric aircraft.

simpleflying.com

 

[fna]

should work on it with a bwb, because that is more efficient.

 

[beijingwalker]

If this comes true China can quickly dominate the global aviation industry, just like China almost becomes a dominant power in EV industry overnight.

 

[Ich]

Batteries....i can see airplanes standing days at airports for recharging. If electric passanger planes, i can see only solutions with hydrogen and fuelcell at the moment.

 

[Skull and Bones]

Batteries....i can see airplanes standing days at airports for recharging. If electric passanger planes, i can see only solutions with hydrogen and fuelcell at the moment.

Fuel cell and green flex fuel is the only way forward for zero carbon flights. It is highly inefficient to lug around dead weight of a battery after discharge in flight.

 

[dbc]

Fuel cell and green flex fuel is the only way forward for zero carbon flights. It is highly inefficient to lug around dead weight of a battery after discharge in flight.

Well also Kerosene has 50 times the energy density of lithium per pound.
But Chinese Physics…

 

[beijingwalker]

All new breakthroughs first sounded crazy as ideas, until they become reality.

 

[Skull and Bones]

All new breakthroughs first sounded crazy as ideas, until they become reality.

Do you understand physics?

 

[Ich]

Well also Kerosene has 50 times the energy density of lithium per pound.
But Chinese Physics…

Hmm, for me the point is how can every nation get independend from fossile energy and the only at the moment existing solution is hydrogen.

 

[antonius123]

Well also Kerosene has 50 times the energy density of lithium per pound.
But Chinese Physics…

You have no clue.

Kerosene is stucked, while battery technology is still developing.

 

[dbc]

You have no clue.

Kerosene is stucked, while battery technology is still developing.

Well then educate me, tell me about some future battery technology that will equal the energy density of Kerosene. Well you can’t, cause it doesn’t exist.

The future of air travel isn’t electric its most likely hydrogen. Scientists have already found a way to store and release hydrogen on demand from solids and they are well on their way to make the first solid state hydrogen fuel cell.

 

[jhungary]

Fuel cell and green flex fuel is the only way forward for zero carbon flights. It is highly inefficient to lug around dead weight of a battery after discharge in flight.

Another issue here is system redundancy, you need redundant system to be able to pass any certification, unless you have a fuel engine there to back up the electric engine in case it failed or have 2 completely separate electric system to back up each other, there are zero chance anyone would grant AWC to any aircraft that uses a single electric system.

 

[Ich]

Another issue here is system redundancy, you need redundant system to be able to pass any certification

Thats correct. With air vehicles even tripple fault tolerance. One can see it in the listing of this little hydrogen vtol in the link

Skai Details | Alaka’i Technologies

Skai is a radically simple air mobility system designed to go from A to Anywhere. It eliminates complexity for an unparalleled level of reliability and safety. It uses hydrogen fuel cells to provide an energy solution which is truly clean from end to end.

www.alakai.com

 

[antonius123]

Well then educate me, tell me about some future battery technology that will equal the energy density of Kerosene. Well you can’t, cause it doesn’t exist.

The future of air travel isn’t electric its most likely hydrogen. Scientists have already found a way to store and release hydrogen on demand from solids and they are well on their way to make the first solid state hydrogen fuel cell.

Current situation:

Amprius Li-on battery already able to reach 1/10 of Kerosen in term of energy density.

Possible future battery technology for plane:

• Graphene batteries. Graphene is a material that has a number of properties that make it ideal for battery use, including high conductivity and high energy density. Graphene batteries are still in the early stages of development, but they have the potential to revolutionize the battery industry.
• sodium-nickel chloride batteries have an energy density of 0.56 MJ/kg

 

[dbc]

Current situation:
View attachment 941617

Amprius Li-on battery already able to reach 1/10 of Kerosen in term of energy density.

Possible future battery technology for plane:

• Graphene batteries. Graphene is a material that has a number of properties that make it ideal for battery use, including high conductivity and high energy density. Graphene batteries are still in the early stages of development, but they have the potential to revolutionize the battery industry.
• sodium-nickel chloride batteries have an energy density of 0.56 MJ/kg

You need 480 watt-hour per kilogram for a small regional aircraft. The energy density of sodium nickel chloride is 120 WH/kg.