Despite the aviation industry’s bid to cut carbon emissions, the idea of electric planes seems farfetched to many. But Munich, Germany-based green aviation startup Vaeridion, believes its battery-powered microliner concept for carbon neutral short-haul travel will defy skeptics.
At an engineering workspace south of Munich, in the Bosch Innovation Campus in Holzkirchen, it is busy conjuring up a viable concept for a 9-seater aircraft that will not only work but be profitable too over short distances of 250 miles (400 km), according to Ivor van Dartel, an ex-Airbus executive, and Vaeridion’s chief executive officer and founder.
A Market Waiting To Be Tapped
It is market that’s waiting to be tapped, van Dartel told your correspondent. “Regional air travel over short distances remains a big business in several pockets of the world – from Europe to the Caribbean, North America to Asia. This demand – for flights of 500 km and under – is currently serviced by small turbo propeller aircraft with nearly 15,000 currently in operation.
“Our microliner can be a carbon emissions free drop-in replacement for these aircraft to service a preexisting need differently, efficiently and sustainably. We researched the right size and product-market fit in great detail and came to the conclusion that the 9-seater is the right one for it. We regard it to be a business opportunity worth €8 billion ($8.6 billion) in annual sales.”
Europe, in particular, and especially the domestic markets of Germany and Norway, are ripe for the taking.
“We see a clear case for our type of aircraft which can seamlessly step in to revitalize and replace an ageing fleet of conventional jet fueled propeller planes, many of which have an average age of 40 years, with a viable alternative that deploys a climate-neutral electric power train.” So how does it work?
Whats Under The Wing
Based on Vaeridion’s concept, it is the not the engine under the hood or hooked to its wings that would crave an aviation enthusiast’s attention, rather the rechargeable high voltage batteries under the wing that will power the electric motor running the plane’s propeller.
The batteries would be housed in casings under the microliner’s wings bringing about a “battery wing integration” – a design concept conceived with improved performance and aviation standards in mind.
“Housing the batteries in the wings helps from a weight point of view, reducing bending moments and shear forces in the wing root, and places them in a part of the aircraft away from the main fuselage.”
The batteries will power a single propeller and multi-engine architecture for the plane. It implies that two motors that are completely segregated from each other, both mechanically and electrically, would fly the plane.
“Electric motors are beautifully simple, safe and supportive of a multi-engine architecture that is needed to get regulatory clearance for flying in Europe.
“In the highly unlikely event that one motor were to fail, the pilot will have less power but not notice a difference or a wobble in flying. Furthermore, our concept has an elevated power margin built in that will make it relatively easy to cope with.”
Not Reinventing The Wheel
Vaeridion is internally quality checking and stress testing the battery-wing integration at its laboratory, keeping the regulator – European Union Aviation Safety Agency – in the loop.
“We are skipping the demonstrator and going straight for a compliant conforming prototype, with hopes of a certification from EASA, which would mirror the rigorous standards of U.S. FAA. It’s a collaborative approach with the regulatory authorities,” van Dartel added.
However, he also acknowledged the market skepticism over electric aviation, with many green aviation startups struggling to survive. In fact, the electric vertical take-off and landing or “eVTOL” aircraft space in which Vaeridion operates is littered with more failures than signs of tangible successes.
For instance, Italy’s Tecnam put its electric aircraft concept on hold in 2023 after three-years of trying. Germany’s Volocopter has initiated insolvency proceedings, and Lilium – an electric air-taxi startup – could file for its second insolvency this year.
While describing such firms as innovators to whom both the eVTOL segment and his company should express “nothing but gratitude”, van Dartel noted that Vaeridion will achieve a very different outcome underpinned by commercial success.
“Much of this is possible because Vaeridion is not reinventing the wheel. The microliner is based on existing aeronautics, propellers and hardware including an EMRAX motor, combined with our approach of conceiving and adopting an electric power train for it with a dual flight-deck supporting single pilot operating mode.
“This is an innovative, and perhaps a changed, approach but not a reinvention. We have designed our aircraft in such a way that it is certifiable in multiple markets largely under existing regulations. This irons out many of the complexities encountered by others in our field.
“All the product assumptions we have put forward are backed by hard numbers, substantiated by math and physics. But unlike us, many eVTOL companies started working on a product for which there weren’t any regulations for. So they have a moving target and the problems associated with it that we don’t face.
“We wanted to do something that end users can see in this decade, something that’s relatively small with a commercial case for it, and something that’s not too relatively new as the certification hurdle would be too high. And here we are making a powerful case for it.”
Business Flight Path For Its Electric Aircraft
In December, Vaeridion inked a “pre-application contract” with EASA, which commits its microliner aircraft to meeting the certification standards for commercial civil aviation in Europe.
The company aims to do test flights of its prototype in 2027, and by 2030 sell its first planes to customers. Commercially, Vaeridion already has partnerships with ASL Group, Copenhagen AirTaxi and Aero-Dienst, who are collaborating with it on the development of the aircraft.
Furthermore, talks on binding sales and purchase agreements, not just memorandums of understanding, with several customers are underway. The first of these will likely be announced early in the second half of the year.
To keep it on the flight path to commercialization, Vaeridion raised €14 million in December via a funding round led by venture capital outfit World Fund, with participation from Project A Ventures, Andreas Kupke, Schwarz Holding, InnovationQuarter and the company’s very first backer Vsquared Ventures, led by its founding partner Herbert Mangesius.
van Dartel confirmed the company is in talks to raise further capital to fuel its expansion with a clear target of the first commercial delivery of aircraft by 2030 – an impressive ambition for a startup founded as recently as 2021.
“Our first two prototypes, expected in 2027, will need to be flight tested for two years. Thereafter, we have a clear commercial pipeline with the first 100 sales lined up this year, which will serve as a basis to industrialize.
“We’re looking at a baseline production rate in the early 2030s – peaking out in 2034 – of about 250 aircraft per year. Thereafter, if regional air mobility demand is higher, we will remain amenable to having a decentralized industrial approach for local assembly in various markets.”
And Vaeridion has clear business ideas for after sales too, based on its internal modelling. “The battery is the component that our customers will need to replace in time over the lifetime of the aircraft. We need to be experts at this to create an after sales revenue stream.
“If you make an analogy to conventional aviation, the main contributor to the after sales of an aircraft is engine supply, service and maintenance. In the case of the microliner, electrification will allow us to simplify the power train where the core maintenance and replacement focus will be on the battery for us to offer after sales services.”
Overall, Vaeridion remains confident in its green air mobility value preposition targeted at regional air connections. It is hoping this small start would lead to bigger things for sustainable aviation via electric planes, so should the wider industry.
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