Bye Looks To Lithium-Sulfur For Electric Aircraft Power

Bye Aerospace and OXIS Energy have announced a collaboration to develop and produce a Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) “advanced battery cell for the high-voltage battery pack system to be considered for Bye’s future electric aircraft.” According to OXIS Energy CEO Huw Hampson-Jones, OXIS’ Li-S cells and battery systems are “over 50 percent lighter than the current Li-ion cell and battery systems” and are capable of achieving the energy density needed for Bye’s aircraft.

"A key measure of OXIS’ suitability is to be able to consistently produce cells in excess of 400 Wh/kg [watt-hours per kilogram], which are already undergoing evaluation,” said Huw Hampson-Jones. “OXIS expects to achieve 500 Wh/kg by early 2020.”

Bye Aerospace CEO George Bye says that the Li-S project is separate from current “agreements and intentions” related to the company’s eFlyer 2 electric trainer. Instead, it is aimed at the four-place eFlyer 4 and unnamed “future air taxi aircraft designs.”  Work on the project is scheduled to begin this September with the goal of moving toward production of commercial cells and battery systems over the following 18 months.