An IIT Delhi mechanical engineer is striving to make hybrid planes in US. He also desires to sell it in India for covering the distances like 1,100 km long flights. He has plans to do it by the year 2020. The techie names Ashish Kumar, the CEO and founder of Zunum Aero is in process of developing hybrid-electric aircraft which will range among 1,600 km to 2030.
Ashish Kumar is PhD in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Cornell University and says that, “Boeing and JetBlue (via JetBlue Technology Ventures subsidiary) are backing us. We will first come out with a sub-20 seater hybrid aircraft. We hope to have the first prototype flying in two years and begin commercial production in early 2020s”.
Kumar also mentioned, “Our planes will be way cheaper for airlines to operate. They will not go as high as commercial aircraft due to the distances they will be covering. While they will be slower than other planes, their ability to land at airstrips closer to final destination will significantly reduce door-to-door time for flyers”.
A whole troop of commercial hybrid-to-electric aircraft will be designed for the regional transportation. This will be extensively supported by quiet range optimized powertrain and driving technologies.
He also said, “”The shift of the industry to large aircraft and long ranges driven by gas turbines has concentrated almost all air traffic to just one percent of our airports, creating a massive transport gap over regional distances where there is no high-speed alternative. Hybrid propulsion is an industry-changing solution, enabling mid-sized aircraft on regional routes to have better cost efficiencies than airliners”.
Zunum Aero also revealed that, they will be having 80% lesser emissions. With lesser operating cost, they will ultimately get lesser fare rates of air journeys. He mentioned, “We are looking at India in a big way”.
