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Aircraft

Bye Aerospace announces eFlyer 800 eight-seater electric aircraft

By Ben Coxworth
April 22, 2021
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A rendering of the Bye Aerospace eFlyer 800, which may be available within four to six years
Bye Aerospace
A rendering of the Bye Aerospace eFlyer 800, which may be available within four to six years
Bye Aerospace
The eFlyer 800's cabin will measure 65 inches wide by 55 inches tall (165 by 140 cm)
Bye Aerospace

Colorado-based electric aviation startup Bye Aerospace is currently best known for its two-seater eFlyer 2 aircraft. That may soon change, though, as the company has now unveiled a planned battery-powered eight-seater.

Named the eFlyer 800, the turboprop class airplane will be able to seat a maximum of seven passengers, along with one or two pilots in front.

Thrust will be provided by two wing-mounted ENGINeUS electric motors, manufactured by project partner Safran Electrical & Power. These will be powered by quad-redundant lithium battery packs, for an estimated range of 500 nautical miles per charge (575 miles/926 km). The plane will have a rate of climb of 3,400 feet (1,036 m) per minute, and a ceiling of 35,000 feet (10,668 m).

In the event that the batteries or anything else should fail, the eFlyer 800 will also be equipped with a full-airplane parachute. Other features will include an emergency auto-landing system with built-in terrain avoidance, plus the options of solar cells for helping to keep the batteries charged, and electric motors in the wheels for taxiing.

The eFlyer 800's cabin will measure 65 inches wide by 55 inches tall (165 by 140 cm)
Bye Aerospace

According to the company, the eFlyer 800 should have only one-fifth the operating costs of traditional twin turboprops. It will also produce no direct carbon dioxide emissions, and should be considerably quieter than traditional non-electric aircraft.

"Bye Aerospace is very early in the process for determining pricing, but a four to six year timeline is a reasonable initial estimate for availability," CEO George E. Bye tells us. "We are taking paid purchase deposits and will be announcing initial customers soon."

Source: Bye Aerospace

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AircraftElectric AircraftBye AerospaceSafranNew Atlas Audio
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Ben Coxworth
Based out of Edmonton, Canada, Ben Coxworth has been writing for New Atlas since 2009 and is presently Managing Editor for North America. An experienced freelance writer, he previously obtained an English BA from the University of Saskatchewan, then spent over 20 years working in various markets as a television reporter, producer and news videographer. Ben is particularly interested in scientific innovation, human-powered transportation, and the marine environment.
10 comments
paul314
Random question: how many people are looking into airframe conversion kits? Because if the air transport sector does take carbon seriously there are going to be a lot of redundant aircraft out there with oodles of structural and systems life left in them.
gettodacessna
Looks great!

So what's happening with the eFlyer? Dead in the water?
Also: "the eFlyer 800 will also be equipped with a full-airplane parachute." Is this really necessary on a twin motor aircraft, with I'm assuming a redundant battery pack?
Sounds like we're throwing gimmicky features in to make it sound good?
guzmanchinky
Wow, if those numbers hold up I'll buy one, and I'm not kidding...
dan
cool! any specs or just another PR-hype? Safran is certainly one of the most serious R&D players, but please add specs, e.g. a similar sized aircraft as the Cessna Caravan needs in flight roughly 300 kW - LiFePo4 batteries allow (optimistically) up to 200 Wh/kg, lithium batteries (which are less safe) up to 300 Wh/kg. So, please present plausible PR with some specs to believe you guys, as the battery in the case as advertised would be 300'000/300=1'000 kg for just 1h of flight time including reserve time...
niio
No battery detail here or on Bye's website, so this is a pipe dream along with their two and four seaters. They are taking order deposits though.(
Nelson Hyde Chick
It's an attractive plane.
dan
@niio you got the point: taking preorders and hide insufficiency in (battery) power. we all love new fancy things that fly fast, are safe and environmentally ok, but as batteries are much worse in power and safety, there won't be such dream nor with fix wings and even less with eVTOLs...
AviatorThinker
Normally in aviation, "fuel" must last a half hour beyond the expected usage of the plane in transit. Since the plane seems powerful in its climb, I'm guessing maybe it can do 250 knots per hour. That means its range, of 575 miles is actually only a useful range of (575-144 =) 431 miles. This would have to be a very targeted commercial use, like flying from NYC to DC. Like an ultra short range bus ride. Not sure how many situations it could fill beyond that since it can't even fly from DC to Chicago. Of course if its cruising speed is even faster, it's use is even more gimped. I just guessed a possible cruise speed of about 250 knots.
ljaques
Bye sure designs those planes for the eyeballs. Sweet thangs, they is. I wish them great luck in this neat niche of aviation.
Towerman
@Dan Again spewing flat earth mentality like all your posts on here.
No sorry for your old imaginative mentality but batteries are safer than fueled aircraft and the power is great and will only get better to the point it will succeed maintenance proned fossil fueled aircraft, ever seen a fossil fueled plane crash landing and go up in a huge fireball leaving nothing but ash behind ? I have ;) Bring on the ELECTRICS !
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