Ampaire plans to scale up its hybrid electric propulsion technology next year after “immense progress” in 2023.
Kevin Noertker, CEO of Ampaire, said: “2023 has been a landmark year for Ampaire. We excellently navigated the headwinds of higher interest rates and a tightening capital market, and delivered immense progress toward our goals.”
Highlights include over $10 million in research and development contracts, the completion of Ampaire’s first acquisition of another company (Talyn Air), and an extensive flight test programme on the world’s largest hybrid-electric aircraft, the Eco Caravan.
Noertker said the company had also completed thousands of miles of flight testing of its hybrid systems, bringing the total to more 24,000 miles flown, and deployed a hybrid plane over 3,400 miles from Southern California to Alaska – the first hybrid ever to do so.
Ampaire has also re-set numerous flight records for distance and endurance of hybrid electric aircraft.
The company enjoys a robust backlog of orders for its systems, with customers spanning markets around the globe and including cargo, passenger, and specialist operations.
“Ampaire’s ability to deliver low fuel burn and energy efficient power systems has broad applicability,” Noertker told FINN.
“Our ability to provide fuel efficient engines enables us to increase endurance of aircraft and drones where range and loiter time is paramount.
“Our systems provide both propulsive and onboard power to serve energy requirements across a wide variety of missions.”
Noertker said he was expecting an equally positive 2024, with research and development work continuing on behalf of partners including NASA and the US Air Force.
Ampaire also intends to make progress toward regulatory approval for its commercial launch product, the AMP H570 powertrain integrated into the Eco Caravan.
Noertker added: “We’ll be scaling our system up to megawatt class aircraft types, and we’ll be broadening the application to drones and eVTOL platforms as well.”
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