Munich Two Munich start-up entrepreneurs want to build climate-friendly small aircraft. So far, Ivor van Dartel (38) and Sebastian Seemann (39) have kept the plans of their start-up Vaeridion secret. Now van Dartel says: “In a few years we will be the largest e-aircraft company in Europe.”
The two aerospace technicians only quit their jobs in September: Van Dartel at the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, sailor at the auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen. Since then, they have founded their company, raised 3.2 million euros in venture capital and are in the process of hiring their first 15 employees. Time is running out.
The Paris climate agreement, the EU’s “Green Deal”, but also court decisions and laws are putting pressure on the aviation industry. The first laws will not take effect until 2030, but “eight years is nothing in aviation,” says Ivor van Dartel. And from the point of view of the founders, short-haul flights are already in serious danger. In terms of passenger kilometers, they are the biggest polluters. “If nothing is done now, short-haul and domestic flights will have to be banned or heavily taxed.” However, the founders have a different plan.
In northern Europe, short domestic flights are essential for many citizens because of the lack of other transport links such as rail routes. The governments of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark have therefore long since reacted and given the airlines guidelines, one more ambitious than the other.
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Governments in Northern Europe are pushing innovation
In Finland, domestic flights are to be emission-free by 2045. Norway wants to achieve this by 2040. And in Sweden and Denmark, fossil fuels will be banned on domestic flights as early as 2030.
So there is a need for greener aircraft. Several other companies around the world have already recognized this and are working on electric aircraft and hybrid concepts. Airbus has also been working on a hybrid electric aircraft demonstrator for a while. Van Dartel and Seemann, who was also with Airbus before his ZF station, worked on the so-called E-Fan X.
Fully electric flying still seems a long way off for large-scale aviation. But the Vaeridion founders see an opportunity for small aircraft: “Not all of the world’s problems can be solved by traditional companies,” says van Dartel.
The start-up entrepreneurs believe that by 2030 there could already be 1,000 to 2,000 electric aircraft on the market worldwide, which they estimate would mean sales of five to ten billion euros. And they are convinced that their concept could be one of the best.
What the two have in mind is a microliner with an electric drive train, a kind of giant motor glider. It will seat two pilots and nine passengers. Unlike the sometimes controversial air taxi concepts, it should take off and land like an ordinary airplane.
Flight concept works with commercially available batteries
According to the aviation experts, commercially available batteries would already be powerful enough for a range of 400 kilometers plus reserve – if the machine is aerodynamically optimised.
“Batteries cannot deliver the energy density of kerosene,” says Seemann, who is responsible for technology at Vaeridion. But that is not necessary either. “You just have to design the right aircraft to deal with less energy.”
So far, Ivor van Dartel and Sebastian Seemann (left) have kept the plans of their start-up Vaeridion secret.
Hundreds of air taxi start-ups around the world are also working on greener concepts for aviation. However, some experts continue to question the technical feasibility of the vertical take-off aircraft: companies like Lilium from near Munich rely on batteries that have yet to be developed.
The Vaeridion founders see another advantage for their concept in the approval process. Aviation safety authorities such as the European EASA would certainly take a close look at their electric drive train. But: “We deliberately said: apart from the perfect battery-wing combination, we’re not doing anything new,” says Seemann.
Ivan Terekhov, Director of Research and Development at the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, shares this view. Electric aircraft are “fundamentally more advanced in obtaining safety and approval certificates” than flight taxis, which are often also called eVTOL (an acronym for electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft).
Aviation expert considers 2030 target to be realistic
Terekhov believes it is quite realistic that small-cabin electric aircraft will become commercially viable on selected ultra-short routes by 2030. “Overall, we see significantly greater chances of medium-term application here than with air taxis.”
Other providers also want to occupy the market. Eviation Alice, which was founded in Israel and is currently preparing for the test flight, is regarded as a pioneer. The electric plane should be able to transport as many passengers as the Vaeridion model. However, the people of Munich are betting that they will do better with battery integration.
Other competitors for Vaeridion are the US company Bye Aerospace, the Swedish start-up Heart Aerospace and the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer.
>>> Also read: Air taxis and zero-emission drives: This is how aircraft manufacturer Embraer is reinventing itself
From the point of view of the aircraft manufacturers, the market for electric aircraft will be significantly larger than the demand in Northern Europe. Vaeridion and its shareholders bet that their plane could be an interesting offer for certain routes in Germany.
“Half of the destination combinations in Germany can theoretically be traveled to more quickly by electric aircraft than by bus, train, car or large aircraft,” says Ivor van Dartel.
Bamberg-Friedrichshafen and Hamburg-Sylt: Vaeridion could fly these routes in Germany
Vaeridion is not yet committed to a business model: the start-up could become both an aircraft manufacturer and an airline. Either way: the founders believe that their giant motor glider could be offered at 300 airports in Germany alone for the price of a flexible first-class ticket with Deutsche Bahn. An offer for business travelers and wealthy private individuals.
>>> Now also listen to the Handelsblatt-Disrupt: Tech reporter Holzki: “Germany has the chance to have its own start-up DNA”
Because the start-up aircraft only needs a runway of 650 meters according to current calculations, the list of theoretical Vaeridion connections is long: Hamburg-Dresden, Bamberg-Friedrichshafen, Memmingen-Leipzig – and also Hamburg-Sylt.
However, Ivan Terekhov from the Lufthansa Innovation Hub is wary of such fantasies. The market penetration of electric aircraft will take “at least a decade”. He also points to little investment activity in the space so far: “Venture capital investments in electric aircraft start-ups to date are vanishingly small.” Percent of total investments in the travel and mobility market last year.
The Munich venture capital firm Vsquared Ventures, the Berlin early-stage investor Project A and investor Andreas Kupke have nevertheless decided to invest in Vaeridion. Vsquared partner Herbert Mangesius says: “The effects of such a mobility service that is available at short notice and will soon be scalable can hardly be overestimated.”
More: Lilium wants to significantly simplify its high-flyer