After 12 years developing hydrogen propulsion systems for small unmanned aircraft, HES Energy Systems is today unveiling its plans for Element One, the world’s first regional hydrogen-electric passenger aircraft. 

One century after the start of commercial aviation, HES is joining forces with a variety of partners to pioneer a new form of aerial mobility: quiet and zero carbon, personalized, on-demand, decentralized and economically inclusive of rural communities. 

Designed as a zero-emissions aircraft, Element One merges HES’ ultra-light hydrogen fuel cell technologies with a distributed electric aircraft propulsion design. With virtually no change to its current drone-scale systems, HES’ distributed system allows for modularity and increased safety through multiple system redundancies. 

Elementone7(photo1 AETOSWire)

Element One is designed to fly 4 passengers for 500 km to 5000 km depending on whether hydrogen is stored in gaseous or liquid form. This performance is several orders of magnitude better than any battery-electric aircraft attempt so far, opening new aerial routes between smaller towns and rural areas using an existing and dense network of small-scale airports and aerodromes. 

Elementone7(photo3 AETOSWire)

...[ Continue to next page ]