Having already been developing the avionics and flight control systems for the Lilium Jet, Honeywell, together with DENSO will partner with Lilium to produce the electric motor which will power the Lilium Jet.
Honeywell currently collaborates with DENSO to develop aerospace electric propulsion solutions. Lilium developed the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet and the new Lilium e-motor has been worked on by all three companies over the past two years. The e-motor should provide exceptional performance and reliability while producing zero-emissions.
The e-motor is air cooled as opposed to water cooled, thus reducing maintenance requirements and reducing running costs and the e-motor has its rotor and stator in a centrifugal or ‘radial’ configuration, compared to traditional axial designs. This lowers the component’s weight, manufacturing costs and susceptibility to foreign object damage while the motor has industry-leading power density, with the first prototypes designed to extract over 100kW of power from a system weighing just over 4kg.
Yves Yemsi, Chief Operating Officer of Lilium said: “Lilium’s Procurement strategy is to engage with the technology providers with the most suitable expertise. We are already making great progress with Honeywell on its Honeywell Anthem integrated flight deck and flight control computers, and we are delighted to deepen our relationship by also partnering with Honeywell and DENSO on our e-motor. The collaboration with these two powerhouses takes us further along the path to revolutionizing regional air mobility.”