This is the Pipistrel presentation at the 2019 UBER ELEVATE Summit by Dr.Tine Tomazic CEO of Pipistrel Vertical Solutions. The Uber Elevate Summit convened leaders from across academia, industry, government, policy, and technology for a 2-day immersive event on June 11 – 12, 2019, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC.
Pipistrel d.o.o Ajdovščina is a Slovenian light aircraft manufacturer established in 1989 by Ivo Boscarol and based in Ajdovščina. Its facilities are located in Ajdovščina, Slovenia and near the town of Gorizia, Italy.
In February 2016, Pipistrel ran the most powerful hybrid electric powertrain in aviation to date, as a part of the project HYPSTAIR.The EU funded the Hypstair program: a Pipistrel Panthera mockup received a serial hybrid-electric powertrain, ground testing a 200-kW motor driven by batteries only, by a 100-kW generator-only and by both combined.The Hypstair program is followed by Mahepa project from 2017, EU-funded over four years.Panthera ground testing is planned for 2019 before flight tests in 2020.
On 29 September 2016 the world’s first four-seat passenger aircraft powered by a zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system accomplished a successful first public flight. Pipistrel was one of the partners in the “HY4” project. The dual-fuselage, battery-powered Taurus G4 received a DLR hydrogen fuel cell powertrain to fly as the HY4, with hydrogen tanks and batteries in the fuselages, fuel cells and motor in the central nacelle. Partners are German motor and inverter developer Compact Dynamics, Ulm University, TU Delft, Politecnico di Milano and University of Maribor. Ground and flight tests should follow those of the hybrid Panthera a couple of months later.
In June 2019 the company had formed a new R&D sister company, “Pipistrel Vertical Solutions” to develop Pipistrel 801 eVTOL electric VTOL aircraft.
Sources: YouTube; Wikipedia