We are excited to see that the benefits of electric propulsion for soaring are becoming more widespread and that E variants are becoming more common, even from manufacturers not named “Lange Aviation”.
However, self-launching constructions are still rare and the Antares remains unbeaten when it comes to climb altitudes. In order to benefit from all the advantages of electric propulsion, it is not enough to simply replace the engine with an electric motor. To really exploit the possibilities, the aircraft must be developed around the new properties of the electric motor.
A battery based energy storage system also places completely new demands on safety. This was recognized by the sailplane manufacturers and was therefore the dominant topic of the panel discussion alongside future battery developments It can be concluded that the manufacturers take different approaches here. We believe that this is a key issue. We are therefore implementing functional safety in accordance with the ED-79 aviation standard which means we are at the same safety level as electric cars. Please contact us if you are interested in the topic of certified safety for electric propulsion systems in sailplanes as well as in general aviation.
What else was going on was nicely summarized by Ralf Hoffmann in his article .