ELECTRIC motorcycle maker Energica is adding aviation products to its repertoire, after it and its parent company, Ideanomics, sign up for light and ultra-light aircraft projects.
Obviously, Energica’s expertise lies in building motorcycles and not planes, but the Italian firm is kind of sticking to what it knows, supplying a number of projects and supplying its all-electric powertrains for the task. The view is to help drive forwards all-electric power for use in European and short-haul flights for light and ultra-light aircraft.
For these projects, Energica is partnering with Phenix Air Corp and Pure Flight, with one project underway with Pure Flight, and two with Phenix. The first project from Phenix will see Energica’s powertrain integrated into a propellor, with a view to using this in a lightweight seas plane further down the line. In California, a parallel project is looking at the viability of the system although this time it’ll be used in a purpose-built Sonex airframe – similar to the one seen below.
The other project, working alongside Pure Flight, will see the powertrain used in a Pure Flight ΦNIX aircraft, as seen in the picture below.
Speaking about the news, Livia Cevolini said:
“With this collaboration, Energica's technology is literally taking to the skies. Aviation is one of the most challenging industries to decarbonize and I am very proud to be supporting the industry-leading Phenix Air Corp on their journey to develop and bring to market zero-emission ultralight aircraft.”
