It has been some time since we last heard about any e-taxi news from Safran. But it seems something is cooking.
Safran was partnering with Honeywell but is now moving forward on its own. The solution is to power the main gear with electric motors. Â Our last update on the e-taxi idea was some time ago.
Back in 2013 we did an analysis of the main gear powered option and were not convinced it works. We concluded: “While many of the trade-offs between the differing e-taxi configurations are quite clear, such as push versus pull, total weight added and implications for weight and balance, others, such as brake cooling, are not quite as obvious, but could have significant ramifications on operational effectiveness. We’re not certain that EGTS, while acceptable for a ground demonstration at the airshow, is yet ready for prime time in a fast-turn LCC environment.”
Which brings us to the potential announcement at Farnborough this summer that Safran has a customer. This customer is thought to be easyJet which expressed interest in e-taxi solutions since 2012.
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