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World’s Largest Commercial Electric Aircraft Completes Maiden Flight

Meet the eCaravan - an all-electric Cessna 208B Grand Caravan.

eCaravan

Mark Kane Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Jun 4, 2020 at 3:39pm ET

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On May 28, 2020, magniX, the aviation electric motor specialist, in partnership with AeroTEC, completed in Moses Lake, Washington the maiden flight of its all-electric prototype aircraft eCaravan.

The eCaravan is a conversion of the well known nine-passenger Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, which makes it so far the world’s largest all-electric commercial aircraft.

The main point of the test flight is to test the magniX magni500 all-electric propulsion system, rated at 560 kW of continuous power.

"The flying of the eCaravan serves as another critical step in the certification and approval process of the magni500 propulsion system, enabling future conversions of additional aircraft to magniX’s all-electric propulsion technology."

magni500 electric motor for the eCaravan:

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The battery specs were not disclosed, but in a presentation from 2019 (see the last video below) we saw that the company hopes to electrify aircraft on routes of several hundred miles.

That would require at least several hundred of kWh we guess or maybe there will be also plug-in series-hybrid versions. It all depends on the OEMs, as magniX positions itself as a propulsion supplier, rather than a manufacturer of aircraft.

Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX said:

“The iconic Caravan has been a workhorse of industry moving people and transporting goods on short routes for decades. This first flight of the eCaravan is yet another step on the road to operating these middle-mile aircraft at a fraction of the cost, with zero emissions, from and to smaller airports. These electric commercial aircraft will enable the offering of flying services of people and packages in a way previously not possible.”

AeroTEC noted that currently there is no roadmap for testing and certifying electric aircraft. Everything they are doing now - for the very first time - requires developing the processes and best practices for the future.

Gallery: eCaravan

eCaravan

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eCaravan eCaravan

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The inaugural flight of the all-electric Cessna 208B Grand Caravan marks another milestone ushering in the new era of electric aviation

MOSES LAKE, Washington – May 28– magniX, the company powering the electric aviation revolution, and AeroTEC, a leading independent company focused on aerospace testing, engineering and certification, today announced the successful flight of an all-electric Cessna Grand Caravan 208B. The successful flight of the eCaravan, magnified by a 750-horsepower (560 kW) magni500 propulsion system, took place at the AeroTEC Flight Test Center at the Grant County International Airport (KMWH) in Moses Lake, Washington this morning. As the world’s largest all-electric commercial aircraft, this is a significant milestone in disrupting the transportation industry and accelerating the electric aviation revolution.

“The iconic Caravan has been a workhorse of industry moving people and transporting goods on short routes for decades,” said Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX. “This first flight of the eCaravan is yet another step on the road to operating these middle-mile aircraft at a fraction of the cost, with zero emissions, from and to smaller airports. These electric commercial aircraft will enable the offering of flying services of people and packages in a way previously not possible.”

“I’m proud of the pioneering work performed by our engineers, technicians and flight test team,” said Lee Human, President and CEO of AeroTEC. “There’s no roadmap for testing and certifying electric aircraft – this is a new frontier and AeroTEC is on the front lines developing the processes and best practices that will pave the way for electric aviation.”

The flying of the eCaravan serves as another critical step in the certification and approval process of the magni500 propulsion system, enabling future conversions of additional aircraft to magniX’s all-electric propulsion technology.

The historic flight was captured via livestream and watched by people around the world. Following the flight, a virtual press conference was held in the Test Center’s hangar. To view images, recording of the virtual press conference and videos of the first flight of the world’s largest all-electric aircraft, please visit: https://magnix.aero/ecaravan/.

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