Certification of a new retrofitable electric taxiing system capable of generating a claimed $250,000 per aircraft annual saving through lower fuel burn, is to be led by StandardAero through a partnership with developer Green Taxi Solutions (GTS).
Backed by a $5.6 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, the collaboration will accelerate development of the Zero Engine Taxi product, enabling US certification on the Embraer 175 regional jet within two to three years, the companies say.
Additional approvals from European and Brazilian regulators will also be sought and the range of aircraft types covered will also be expanded, they add. A forerunner to GTS previously demonstrated the system on an Airbus A320.
Using the Zero Engine Taxi system to manoeuvre on the ground instead of running the main engines will reduce fuel burn by 300,000 litres (80,000USgal) per aircraft each year, a saving of $250,000, it says.
GTS does not provide detail of the system’s architecture, other than to say it uses electric motors on the main landing gear powered by the auxiliary power unit. Total weight will be under 300kg (660lb), it says.
But the system builds on demonstration work performed last decade through a joint venture formed in 2011 between Honeywell and Safran called EGTS International.
A proposed product, the Electric Green Taxiing System, used a similar architecture, with a pilot interface unit in the cockpit allowing the crew to turn on the unit and command forward or backward motion. Two further control units – one for the overall system and the other for the wheel actuators – were installed in the aircraft.
Although demonstrated on the ground at the 2013 Paris air show, the EGTS never made it past the development phase and was axed in 2016, with the partners blaming low oil prices for a lack of interest. Weight and complexity were also thought to be issues.
Separately, what was then L3 Communications had also developed a similar system which it abandoned in 2013.
GTS is led by former employees from Honeywell and L3 who have continued work on the concept in the hope of bringing it to market.
Notably, a video hosted by GTS on its website features footage solely from those predecessor projects.
Safran, meanwhile, is also developing its own eTaxi system that it intends to offer as a line-fit solution for next-generation narrowbodies.
