Bye Aerospace and Safran jointly announced the development of a fully electric twin-engine eight-seater aircraft, the eFlyer 800. The plane answers “the growing demand for all-electric regional aircraft to significantly reduce operating costs and increase the capacity as well as the performance of the devices,” according to its manufacturers.
The aircraft should reach 320 knots at cruising speed, at an altitude of 35,000 feet, for a range of 500 NM, considering an IFR reserve of 45 minutes at a normal cruise speed of 280 knots. “The eFlyer 800 is the first all-electric propulsion technology airplane that achieves twin-turboprop performance and safety with no CO2 and extremely low operating costs,” said Bye Aerospace CEO George Bye.
The eFlyer 800 will also feature several safety systems such as an emergency auto-landing system and a full airplane parachute. On March 8, 2021, Aviation Safety Resources successfully completed the first developmental test of its whole-aircraft parachute recovery system for eFlyer 2, the two-seater aircraft developed by Bye Aerospace. The eFlyer 800’s 8-seat configuration consists of up to seven passengers and one or two pilots. The operating costs of the eFlyer 800 represent one-fifth of those of traditional twin-engine planes, according to the manufacturer.
Bye Aerospace and Safran are still evaluating the electric propulsion system that will be the most efficient for the eFlyer 800: two Engineus electric motors as well as Geneusgrid electric distribution and network protection system. “Safran product lines with the Engineus motors, rated from 50kW to 500kW/1MW and Geneusgrid systems, perfectly fit with the Bye Aerospace portfolio of e-aircraft,” said Hervé Blanc, Executive Vice President and General Manager Power with Safran Electrical & Power.
Safran’s Engineus 100 already powers the eFlyer2 and eFlyer4. Bye Aerospace claims a total order book of 711 eFlyer 2 electric two-seater aircraft. Among them, the Norwegian group OSM Aviation hopes to become the world’s first pilot training school to go full electric. On April 11, 2019, it placed an order of 60 eFlyer 2 electric aircraft.
Bye said the eFlyer 800 already received interest from US and European air-taxi, air-cargo, and air charter service companies.