Ampaire

Electricity generation currently accounts for ~40% of primary energy consumption in the U.S. and continues to be the fastest growing form of end-use energy. The electrification of transportation partially drives this trend, which will increase as new car sales are predicted to be 30% electric by 2040. The next step is electrification of aviation. All-electric commercial jets may seem far off in the future, but ~45% of global flights today are under 500 miles, putting them within range of electric aircraft. Power electronics will play a critical role in electric aviation development as they condition, control, and convert electrical power to provide optimal conditions for distribution and consumption in the electric motor and auxiliary components. Transformative advances in circuit design and system architecture, as demonstrated under the CIRCUITS program, present opportunities to dramatically improve power converter performance while reducing size and weight, making them ideally suited for electric aviation applications. A significant barrier for new power electronic circuit adoption in aircraft, however, is the requirement to demonstrate operation in flight. It is challenging to find aviation platforms that can fly developmental hardware. Filling the in-flight operational testing gap would de-risk these innovative energy technologies and demonstrate their viability.