Impact of Different Powertrain Architectures on UAM Vehicle Concepts

Abstract

The research on the system architecture of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles is a vital part inside the DLR internal project HorizonUAM. One of the project goals in HorizonUAM is the development of a system concept for an air taxi. For this purpose, research is also carried out in the area of safe and certifiable onboard systems. The aim of this article is to give an overview of the previous results and findings. The system and safety challenges in the design of onboard systems with a focus on electrical powertrain systems are described. A developed preliminary design method enables full, turbo and hybrid electric drive systems to be examined in UAM vehicle design. This methodology was used in a study to investigate the influence of different powertrain architectures on the multirotor design. Here, the basic feasibility of the multirotor designs with different powertrain systems could be determined. For this purpose, the battery weight and the overall efficiency of the powertrain system were identified as design driver. There is still a need for further research into drives with fuel cell systems.