FutureFlight
H55 To Supply Battery System for Pratt & Whitney’s Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft
P&WC’s choice of H55 for the de Havilland Dash 8 hybrid-electric demonstrator comes 10 months after program launch.
Pratt & Whitney Canada's Dash 8 hybrid-electric demonstrator
A team led by Pratt & Whitney Canada plans to fly a hybrid-electric version of a Dash 8 turboprop by 2024. (Image: Pratt & Whitney Canada)

Pratt & Whitney Canada has chosen Switzerland’s H55 to supply battery systems for the engine company’s regional hybrid-electric flight demonstrator program, P&WC said Thursday. The development of the battery component designs and associated electrical control systems will also draw support from the National Research Council Canada (NRC) and the province of Quebec’s Innovative Vehicle Institute (IVI).

A spinoff from Solar Impulse, the first electric airplane to fly around the world, H55 develops modular, lightweight propulsion and energy storage systems for electric aircraft such as the eBeaver, now under development by Western Canadian seaplane operator Harbour Air.