In California, ZeroAvia announced a collaboration with Otto Aviation, LLC, to develop a hydrogen-electric powertrain to power Otto’s Celera aircraft. Under the agreement, Otto and ZeroAvia will work to integrate ZeroAvia’s ZA600 zero-emission engines to Otto’s revolutionary Celera aircraft. The collaboration has the potential to make the Celera the first new airframe design to leverage zero-emission propulsion in its launch models.
The development of this 600kW powertrain is part of Project HyFlyer II and will deliver a fully certified powertrain for aircraft of up to 19-seats by 2024. HyFlyer II is supported by the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy (BEIS), Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), and Innovate UK through the ATI Programme. After having flown multiple 6-seat R&D prototypes, ZeroAvia is preparing its first 19-seat prototype for its inaugural flight in the coming weeks. The company is also retrofitting a second Dornier-228 testbed in Hollister, California, to conduct further flight testing.