Bye Aerospace, OXIS Energy begin Li-S tech collaboration

Plan to increase future Bye Aerospace eAircraft endurance with Lithium Sulfur (Li-S) battery technology.

OXIS Energy and Bye Aerospace have begun a year-long collaborative program announced in July that seeks to achieve a 50% to 100% increase in flight time from a single charge on future Bye Aerospace eAircraft.

Compared to existing Li-ion battery systems technology, the high gravimetric energy density of the OXIS Lithium Sulfur (Li-S) battery technology – in excess of 500Wh/kg at 20Ah capacity – offers a 2x reduction in battery system weight to increase flight duration.

At the outset, the program will test OXIS cells and modules against the performance characteristics of existing and soon-to-be-announced Bye Aerospace aircraft. This will produce data that will demonstrate the advantages of the OXIS Li-S technology to the aerospace sector and more specifically, to Bye Aerospace’s future aviation applications.

OXIS CEO, Huw Hampson-Jones said, “We believe this collaboration will offer Bye Aerospace the confidence that OXIS Li-S systems will deliver the battery technology that meets the demanding performance and quality required to increase the efficiencies of their future electric aircraft. OXIS is focusing its research and development on the transformation of piston and turbo prop aircraft required for regional flight transportation. We believe this to be the first phase in the electrification of commercial aircraft and will ultimately form the basis for the electrification of air taxis, with the additional requirement for regional aircraft.”

George E. Bye, CEO of Bye Aerospace, acknowledged the importance of next-generation technologies to help companies such as Bye Aerospace keep up with the revolutionary trends of electric aviation and the resulting demands for more efficient aircraft. “OXIS Energy’s battery technology continues to be an important consideration, and we appreciate the opportunity to collaborate in this way.”

Bye Aerospace is developing FAR 23-certified general aviation aircraft, starting with the eFlyer 2, for the flight training role.