1,000‑hp electric aircraft motor
Fraunhofer unveiled an electric aircraft motor rated at about 1,000 horsepower intended for hybrid aviation applications. (x.com). The announcement frames the motor as a key component for hybrid systems that combine electric drive with conventional combustion or turbine stages. (x.com)
An electric motor is the part that turns electrical power into spinning force, like the shaft in a turboprop engine. Fraunhofer IISB said on April 15 it has built one for aircraft rated at 750 kilowatts, or about 1,000 horsepower. (iisb.fraunhofer.de) Fraunhofer said the motor weighs 94 kilograms, reaches 21,000 revolutions per minute, and delivers 8 kilowatts per kilogram. The institute said it developed the machine from concept, computer-aided design, manufacturing, assembly, and validation to aerospace standards. (iisb.fraunhofer.de) Aircraft care more about weight than cars do, because every added kilogram cuts payload or range. Heise, citing Fraunhofer, reported that 750 kilowatts is roughly in the range of a small turboprop engine, but in a 94-kilogram package. (heise.de) Fraunhofer built the motor for AMBER, a Clean Aviation project backed by the European Union to mature a roughly 2-megawatt hybrid-electric propulsion system for regional aircraft. Clean Aviation says the demonstrator is aimed at hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered hybrid propulsion, and GE Aerospace says the program targets entry into service by 2035. (clean-aviation.eu) (geaerospace.com) The basic problem in electric flight is energy storage: batteries are heavy, so many near-term designs mix electric drive with another power source instead of flying on batteries alone. GE Aerospace said AMBER pairs hybrid-electric components with fuel cells and Avio Aero’s Catalyst turboprop engine for rig testing. (geaerospace.com) Fraunhofer said this motor uses permanent magnets, very thin 0.15-millimeter electrical steel, and “hairpin” windings, which are shaped copper conductors packed tightly into the stator. Charged EVs, citing Fraunhofer, reported that the design also uses direct oil-spray cooling to hold rated power at a 65 degrees Celsius coolant temperature. (iisb.fraunhofer.de) (chargedevs.com) Fraunhofer said the stator is split into four electrically decoupled sections, each with its own inverter. Heise reported that the point is fault tolerance: if one section fails, the others can keep running instead of shutting down the whole machine. (iisb.fraunhofer.de) (heise.de) Clean Aviation says AMBER is meant to validate key technologies for a regional aircraft powertrain, not to announce a passenger airplane entering airline service this year. Fraunhofer’s motor is one piece of that stack, alongside fuel cells, power electronics, transmission hardware, and a conventional engine. (clean-aviation.eu) (geaerospace.com) The immediate news is not an all-electric airliner. It is that one of Europe’s biggest applied-research groups has now put a 750-kilowatt aircraft motor on the table for the hybrid systems regional aviation companies are trying to make work in the 2030s. (iisb.fraunhofer.de) (geaerospace.com)
