RexMoto-A Range Extender Concept for Light Electric Aircraft

Glassock, Richard; Madonna, Vincenzo; Giangrande, Paolo; Galea, Michael

Abstract

© 2020 IEEE. A main limitation of fully electric vehicles is their maximum range, which is principally constrained by the performance (i.e. energy density) of energy storage systems. A range extender, coupled to an electric vehicle, is a system able to store and/or convert energy that is supplied to the vehicle itself with the aim of extending its range. This work deals with the technological development and electrical sizing of a flight range extender concept for light electric aircraft. The presented platform, defined hereinafter as RExMoto, is based on the concept of modularity, obtained by embodying the range extender as a light-weight motorcycle. The benefits and technological challenges are described throughout and a detailed analysis in terms of operations and mission profile is provided. A legacy light aircraft is used as a case-study platform.

• Conference Name: 2020 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference & Expo (ITEC)
• Conference Location: Chicago, IL, USA
• Start Date: Jun 23, 2020
• End Date: Jun 26, 2020
• Acceptance Date: Feb 28, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Aug 7, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Deposit Date: Jan 18, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 18, 2021
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Pages: 930-935
• Series ISSN: 2377-5483
• Book Title: 2020 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference & Expo (ITEC)
• ISBN: 978-1-7281-4630-0
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ITEC48692.2020.9161496
• Keywords: Aircraft, Batteries, Aircraft propulsion, Motorcycles, Ice, Power systems
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5119124
• Publisher URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9161496
• Additional Information: © 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.