Lilium speaks unspecifically of "large-scale lithium-ion batteries" that Customcells will produce for the eVTOL aircraft based on the technology licensed from Lilium. The Lilium architecture, with its 30 jets, puts extra strain on the battery system during hover and transition, as discussed in Part 30. We've written before about Lilium's tiny-fan design and its effect on the aircraft's efficiency and likely use cases. So a 2Ah battery has 0.6 grams of lithium (2 x 0.3) and a typical laptop battery pack with eight 2Ah cells has 4.8 grams ( 8 units x (0.3 x 2Ah)) Declaring lithium content is usually required for lithium metal . The analysis tool and models have been validated with actual test data measured during the test campaign of the 5-seater technology demonstrator aircraft. In order to achieve approximately the same aerodynamic stage efficiencies during cruise flight, we make use of a variable nozzle. In doing so, Customcells systematically pursues a technological vertical integration strategy through cooperation with respective "best in class" companies in the value chain from material manufacturers to plant constructors to recycling specialists. One of the challenges in designing the battery system for the Lilium Jet is the provision of high power by the battery cells at low SOC. Both directions offer low-noise emissions at fixed payload but the payload of such systems cannot be scaled for the same noise profile. The pitch to investors is for Lilium to transport more passengers with its differentiated technology, and over longer distances [Pg 5 of March 2021 investor presentation] than peers such as Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation. However, at the exhaust of the ducted fan we use a variable area nozzle which changes the exhaust cross-sectional area during the flight and thereby guarantees high levels of fan efficiency in all phases of the mission profile. Its two arguments were: This silenced the critics but our research invalidates Liliums arguments: CTO Alastair McIntosh claims the Lilium Jet would hover for a very short time i.e., less than 60 seconds, of which takeoff would require 10-25 seconds and landing another 20 seconds. With tiny, ducted electric "jets" instead of exposed propellers, Lilium's eVTOL aircraft looks incredible, but it'll place a unique strain on its batteries. The Jet has an unconventional design with a propulsion system consisting of 36 wing flaps. To deliver the desired range and top speed requires an aircraft that is highly efficient in cruise flight. Lilium envisions directly connecting inner towns and cities across ranges of between 40 and 200km at launch (and up to 500km longer term) at speeds of up to 300km/h, while enabling significant time savings for individual passengers compared to alternatives. In this case, I understand and agree that opening the newsletter and clicking on links in the newsletter will also be visible to Lilium for analytical purposes, as described in the. Lilium might have its bet right as well. Improvements in rechargeable batteries are enabling several electric urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft designs with up to 300 mi of range with payload equivalents of up to seven passengers. Take-off and landing: during take-off we are only hovering approximately ~10-25 seconds and we also assume approximately ~20 seconds during a standard landing phase, whilst keeping approximately ~ 60 seconds as reserve. For those not so familiar, disc load is the total aircraft weight to be lifted divided by the aggregate area of the rotors used during lift. Lilium partners with CUSTOMCELLS to produce high-performance silicon-anode batteries for the 7-Seater Lilium Jet. He does not account for buffer time aviation regulators would require for bad weather conditions, hindrances such as drones and birds, and altitude needs i.e., vertiports will be surrounded by buildings of different heights. The Lilium Jets disc load relative to other configurations. The promise of energy-efficient battery-powered urban aircraft hover) time. This gives rise to two problems. Kaita said the company had developed ways to make batteries more durable and believed it could now make a solid-state battery with a range of 1,200km (745 miles) that could charge in 10 minutes or . We expect Lilium to miss its certification timeline and lag advanced peers. Flight tests with our technology demonstrator proved this effect during the transition phase. The reality of its batteries and the limitations they create on the Jets development will soon become obvious. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. What is the total energy tally/footprint in all of this? The physical footprint (its length and wingspan projection) should be compatible with standard helicopter landing pads to make use of existing infrastructure, notwithstanding the inevitable need to build new facilities. The goal of this blog and updates to come, is to invite a wider audience from the aerospace and high-technology communities into the conversation. As an independent premium brand, Customcells stands for customized solutions in a wide range of industries and continuously pushes the boundaries of what is technically possible through digital technologies. For example, it appeared to me that the associated fan size and power consumption implications of electric ducted jet engines might make such an architecture impractical, or at least economically non-viable in an eVTOL aircraft given the thrust required for take-off. Joby also seems to be working on hydrogen powertrains, since they bought the one and only company which has proven so far hydrogen-based flying is possible (H2FLY). Technology Blog - Lilium Liliums greatest breakthrough is not accepting that traditional approach to trade-offs but rather getting to first principle understanding of the physics and then systematically innovating and optimising each subsystem in an integrated and coherent manner such that the resulting aircraft achieves all stated performance objectives. These fluctuations are mostly evident in the high frequency bandwidth of the audible spectrum. Cash burn is likely to accelerate as Lilium may increase its headcount by another 10%, from 900-1,000 at present. To prove the battery technology is available, Liliums white paper quotes Zenlabs Energy Inc a 34.8%-owned associated company [Pg 17] that reported battery cells in the lab with 315 Wh/kg energy densities while achieving 1,000 charge-discharge cycles. The canards and wings are positioned as far apart as practicable, to enable the aircraft to be stable in pitch. You can publicly access any piece of evidence cited in this report or that we relied on to write this report. July 5, 2023. Iceberg Research (Iceberg) makes no representation, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any such information or with regard to the results to be obtained from its use. OSAKA, Japan, July 3 (Reuters) - The battery arm of Japan's Panasonic (6752.T) will need to build four more factories to reach its target for a sharp boost in annual capacity . Also the maximum C rate can be given as "continuous rate" so the battery can run charge or discharge at this rate for an unlimited time, and besides that often a (higher) C rating (only for discharge) is given that a battery can sustain for a limited time, for example 10 seconds. Since the aircrafts hover time is <90 seconds in total, the net impact energy usage is manageable. Exclusive Battery Agreement. The low noise profile of a ducted fan comes from 4 important factors introduced earlier: firstly, the duct generates straight inflow on fan blades with low turbulence, which leads to less noise production. Lilium's implausible battery requirements get a second look The low noise signature of ducted fans is a key enabler giving market access to inner city operation. The Lilium battery cell. Video Next generation of iPhones expected to feature significantly Higher disc loads raise power requirements and lower efficiency, and in turn, means less batteries and range for actual flight. Since it is admitted that the battery cell life is short, how often do they need to be replaced and at what cost, not just monetary outlay for them, but what do you do with them when they are dead? It won't be flying anything anywhere in any volume for a long time, as it's on the outer edge of energy density requirements and hence battery costs. At Lilium, we're on a mission to create radically better ways of moving. Under the agreement, ABB will develop, test and supply the MW fast-charging infrastructure to Lilium. We vetoed the idea and insisted there should be no connection between Lilium and the department. Required fields are marked *. We spoke to two experts an aerospace specialist and former Lilium employee to get a sense of the problems with Liliums aircraft. With the Lilium Jet we have secured simplicity in our solution which is always a good thing in engineering. MUNICH, Germany, March 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lilium N.V. (NASDAQ: LILM), developer of the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing ("eVTOL") jet, and battery cell production. Directional stability is provided by active electronic differential thrust control. He added that the transition from hover to flight should not be too quick as the ride would be bumpy and uncomfortable for passengers. We believe the deal is more akin to a marketing agreement: Lilium offered cheap shares to Azul in exchange for the right to market an established company as a partner. One of the sources it relies on to show these batteries are within reach is Zenlabs Energy Inc. Zenlabs is a 34.8% Lilium-owned associated company whose CEO Sujeet Kumar was accused by General Motors of misrepresenting battery performance, while at his previous company Envia Systems. The transition to forward flight and re-transition back to hover take approximately 20 seconds each. The energy team at Lilium have been working closely with our battery cell technology partners to deliver cell performance suitable to fulfil our mission profile and in a package that can be produced on a full scale manufacturing line. You represent to Iceberg that you have sufficient investment sophistication to critically assess the information, analysis and opinions in this report. Above all, progress with aviation authorities is all that matters because you can get the money, build a fantastic aircraft, but if you dont have progress on certification, it doesnt matter. The proprietary technology at the core of the Lilium Jet is Ducted Electric Vectored Thrust (DEVT) which we have refined through successive generations of aircraft demonstrators. Lilium says it has successfully developed, tested and refined the underlying technology for its eVTOL jets, DEVT, along with key control systems, aircraft and battery architecture. Although the assessment of this effect is heavily coupled to general drag housekeeping, due to the low disc exposure during cruise flight, boundary layer ingestion benefits offset blocking effects from the distributed fans. the lithium-thionyl chloride cell. Azul received warrants to buy 8 million of Liliums class A shares at an exercise price of 0.12 per share. MUNICH, Germany, March 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lilium N.V. (NASDAQ: LILM), developer of the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing ("eVTOL") jet, and battery cell production partner, Customcells, are ramping up battery . SEC Filing | Lilium N.V. Reassuringly, even at this early stage of optimisation, the measured noise levels not only correlated well with pre-test predictions but also gave maximum peak values in the 60-65dB range, at 100m distance, without the addition of acoustic liners. The liners absorb the acoustic energy of the rotor blade passing frequency, and the harmonics, which leads to a substantial reduction (up to 10dB(A) depending on conditions) in the overall perceived noise level. In this highly efficient phase, the Lilium jet flight physics resembles a commercial fixed wing jet aircraft such as the Boeing 777 or Airbus A350. Production line provides aviation traceability with capacity to deliver thousands of battery cells a year. The answer is simple: Yes. At the centre of this story is CEO Daniel Wiegand. The total hover, transition and re-transition time consumes <15% of the total stored energy on a typical mission; or <20% if including reserves. Figure 6 shows how our engineering efforts translate into the predicted absolute perceived noise level across the given flight envelope. 3,200 mAh. The remaining 6.2 million will be issued after definitive agreements have been signed.