H55

H55 is on a mission to develop safe and affordable electric propulsion systems for the aerospace industry. The company is a spin-off from Solar Impulse and benefits from a technological heritage of twenty years’ experience in design, development, certification and electric flight. “We provide a concrete response to the needs and objectives of carbon-neutral aeronautics,” says André Borschberg, co-founder and Executive Chairman. To this end, the company is developing certified propulsion systems, consisting of an energy storage system, batteries, and management systems and interfaces, together with an electric power unit, including an electric motor and its controllers. Its first electric propulsion system will be certified CS-23 level 1 (light aircraft with 0 to 1 passengers) at the end of 2024 and will later be used in aircraft with up to 19 seats – a first for Europe!

To begin with, H55 is targeting the conversion of existing light aircraft. “That’s the easiest and quickest task,” says Borschberg. Hundreds of small aircraft will be able to make short, 100% electric flights, he says, which is perfect for fleets used for pilot training. The next step will be to transform regional aviation. H55 intends to install hybrid engines in regional planes, which are designed to hold around 50 passengers. This represents potential carbon savings of 30% compared with a conventional aircraft in the same category. The idea is to then replace the kerosene component with a synthetic fuel. Other hydrogen-based hybrid projects are also expected to come onto the market within the next fifteen years. And, even if we can’t expect to see transatlantic flights being made by 100% electric commercial aircraft any time soon, Borschberg points out that every step on the way to that is significant in a sector that today accounts for 3% of worldwide CO₂ emissions.

H55 has around a hundred staff members, many of whom are engineers. The company is based in Valais, with a subsidiary in Montreal, Canada and one in Toulouse, France. “Our R&D department is in Switzerland, but we want to bring production as close as possible to our customers,” says Borschberg. The company’s markets are Europe and North America, where it works with Pratt & Whitney Canada, CAE and Piper Aircraft. H55’s development plan forecasts sales worth close to one billion Swiss francs by the early 2030s. Demand is huge: there are currently hundreds of projects for electric aircraft and other flying taxis all over the world. However, “safety comes first, so standards are evolving slowly in the aeronautical sector,” Borschberg points out. “The technology is there, it’s the human element that is taking its time over implementing it.”