Aero-TV: MagniX Electric Propulsion Units Poised for Ubiquity

The Conqueror Electron

Founded on Australia’s Gold Coast in 2005 for purpose of researching technologies germane to electric motors, MagniX has risen to a station of prominence amongst the aerospace concerns in the vanguard of the emergent clean propulsion industry. Based now in Everett, Washington, the company is a subsidiary of the Clermont Group, a privately held conglomerate headquartered in Singapore.

MagniX’s product line comprises the 450-shaft-horsepower magni350, and 850-shaft-horsepower magni650 Electric Propulsion Units (EPUs). The two systems share a common core architecture and incorporate MagniX’s proprietary magniDrive-100—a 170-kilowatt inverter/motor-controller unit—as well as a closed-loop liquid cooling scheme that facilitates full-power operation in all flight regimes regardless of ambient environmental conditions.

Of particular interest is the arcane wizardry by which MagniX’s EPUs deliver torque and power at rotational rates commensurate with real-world propeller RPMs. The design facilitates direct motor-to-propeller connection, thereby doing away with the need for the heavy, maintenance-intensive, planetary gearboxes characteristic of conventional turboprop aircraft. The direct-drive EPUs are optimized for operation at FL300 in unpressurized environments. Both the magni350 and magni650 systems are capable of driving a propeller governor and standard aircraft accessories.

To date, MagniX EPUs have powered Eviation’s clean-sheet, nine-passenger, twin-engine ALICE aircraft; Tier 1 Engineering’s e-R44 electric helicopter; Ampaire’s hybrid-electric powered Eco Caravan and Eco Beaver; and Universal Hydrogen’s hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Dash-8 regional airliner. The gamut of aircraft with which MagniX’s propulsion systems have been paired speaks to the units’ utility; evinces their suitability to the clean-sheet, rotary, and retrofit sectors; and exemplifies their compatibility with battery, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel-cell power sources.

The FAA, in 2021, issued special conditions for airworthiness standards to be used in the certification of MagniX's electric propulsion units (EPUs) for commercial aircraft under the agency’s Part 33 rules. MagniX is the first electric propulsion system manufacturer to secure a defined path to FAA certification—which the company hopes to attain in 2023.

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