Meet VoltAero’s Cassio, a unique general aviation airplane with a distributed hybrid-electric propulsion system, that is taking electric aircraft to a new level. Cassio uses a combination of electric motors and an internal combustion engine in a “push-pull” configuration.The VoltAero Cassio is a family of hybrid electric aircraft being developed by startup company VoltAero.
The company plans to produce three configurations of the Cassio aircraft: the four-place Cassio 330, the six-place Cassio 480, and the ten-place Cassio 600.The Cassio will be powered by two 60 kW (80 hp) electric motors driving tractor propellers on the wing and a 170 kW (230 hp) piston engine and 150 kW (200 hp) motor driving a pusher propeller in the aft fuselage.
The combination of fuel and batteries will give it a 1,200 km (650 nmi) range with nine people aboard.[4] It should fly up to 200 km as a pure electric aircraft, 200–600 km (110–320 nmi) as a battery-assisted mild hybrid and over 600 km using more its combustion engine.Its cruise speed should be 200 kn (370 km/h) cruise its endurance 3.5 h, which could be extended to 5 h.[2] The production four-seater targets a 1,800 ft (550 m) field capability within a 2.5 t (5,500 lb) MTOW.
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Lower noise should be allowed by the electric taxiing and take off, before hybrid power above 1,200 ft (370 m). Fuel consumption could be reduced by up to 20%, with hybrid cruise until the batteries have discharged to a 20% energy level, before recharging them with the thermal engine.//VoltAero
