The Development of Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) Solutions to Support Electric Aircraft Development, Large-scale Production and Fleet Support

The emerging all-electric platforms used to support the Orb/eVTOL /UAM (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing/Urban Air Mobility) market for potential military, commercial travel, cargo delivery, disaster response, humanitarian aid, and logistics missions require vehicle charging solutions.  This enormous emerging market is estimated to be approximately $524.0 million by 2025 and is projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2035.  The operational use cases require battery discharge rates in excess of 3C, with the need for extreme fast charging (XFC) supporting charge rates in excess of 6C.  Select battery chemistries are emerging to support such requirements, but lightweight, efficient, readily deployable charging solutions need to be developed.  As a provider of eVTOL solutions and an Uber Elevate partner, Jaunt Air Mobility is teamed with BAE Systems and Binghamton University to develop a commercial XFC solution that integrates XFC power electronics, battery cooling, and smart communications with the vehicle and battery system to support both on-vehicle charging and depot-level charging needs.  The solution leverages Binghamton University’s XFC research in high-power, high-voltage charging solutions with advancements to support the broad range of platform voltage, security and safety requirements for aviation.  As the platform provider, Jaunt Air Mobility provides the platform and fleet requirements, while BAE Systems leverages its experience in integrating and fielding over 14000 high-power, high-voltage battery systems and power electronics solutions to commercialize the XFC solution.