On the eve of the unveiling of its Midnight eVTOL, Archer announced the selection of Molicel lithium-ion battery cells and the Garmin G3000® integrated flight deck for Midnight.
According to the company: “Archer is focused on building an aircraft tailored to the needs of intra-city travel, optimizing its Midnight aircraft to perform back-to-back short distance flights of about 20 miles with approximately 10-minute charging cycles in-between. Batteries are an important consideration in achieving Midnight’s desired payload, range and charging time. The ability to operate eVTOL aircraft in dense, urban environments requires state-of-the-art, reliable battery cells that can deliver high power, low impedance and fast charging capabilities….Last year, Molicel announced plans to establish its first Gigafactory in Taiwan, which is scheduled to ramp up production in 2023. The facility will have the capacity to produce 1.8 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery capacity annually. Molicel’s high-performance cells also offer a significant cycle life when utilized in Archer’s battery pack and, as a result, reduce the long-term operating cost for its Midnight production aircraft.”
In another release, Archer reports:
“The Garmin G3000 integrated flight deck offers an ideal solution for the Midnight cockpit. The compact and lightweight system offers both an extensive certification pedigree and the configurability needed for Archer to bring its aircraft to market. The large format displays and intuitive controls will provide pilots with the situational awareness needed to operate Midnight. The extensive reach of Garmin avionics will make the Midnight aircraft familiar to a large swath of pilots.
Part of Archer’s commercialization strategy is to focus its in-house development on only the key enabling technologies that cannot be sourced from the existing aerospace supply base. The Garmin relationship further advances Archer’s approach of establishing strategic relationships for supply of components already being used on certified aircraft today. Archer now has more than 64% of our suppliers for Midnight’s bill-of-materials selected.”
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