Sweden’s Vinnova innovation agency has awarded a consortium led by Heart Aerospace almost SKr20 million ($1.8 million) to build and ground test a full-scale demonstrator of the developer’s hybrid-electric ES-30 regional aircraft.
A two-year effort running from May 2023, the ELISE – Electric Aviation in Sweden – Step 3 project is designed to help “develop a Swedish infrastructure and industry around electric aviation”. Vinnova is contributing funding of SKr19.9 million.
Coordinated by Heart, the consortium also features carriers Braathens Regional Airlines and SAS – both of which have placed tentative agreements for the ES-30 – airport operator Swedavia, and battery manufacturer Northvolt.
Under the project, the team will assemble the ground-test article which will then be used to conduct taxi and charging trials, including by airlines, at Malmo airport.
An advisory panel will also contribute to the project. This comprises regional airport operator Sveriges Regionala Flygplatser, the Research Institutes of Sweden, MRO specialist Bromma Air Maintenance, ATC provider Luftfartsverket, and government transport bodies Transportstyrelsen and Trafikverket.
The latest stage of the project builds on two previous steps – which received a total of SKr9.6 million in funding – culminating in the assembly of a powertrain test rig and flying scaled model of the now-ditched ES-19 aircraft.
Heart is aiming to achieve certification and service entry of the 30-seat ES-30 in 2028.
This story has been updated to include the test location in the fourth paragraph.
