Developing the international charging standard for electric aircraft is a task of the new SAE International AE-7D Aircraft Energy Storage and Charging Committee. More specifically, the Committee is responsible for creating and maintaining technical reports for battery energy storage, distribution, and charging. This new effort comes in parallel with the establishment of the new SAE E-40 committee on Electrified Propulsion, and to support this effort, knowledge and best practices will be shared from other SAE International committees including AE-7B Power Management, Distribution and Storage; AE-8 Aero Electrical and Electronics Distribution Systems; AGE-3 Aircraft Ground Support Equipment Committee; SAE Hybrid-EV Connector Committee and the Ground Vehicle Battery Steering Committee as well as other related standards committees.
“Henry Ford, automotive industry visionary and pioneer said, ‘Coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success.’ For our new committee, coming together is the beginning, but working together for defining the common global charging standards for electric aviation will be our goal”, states Dr. Susan X. Ying, VP, Technology Strategy & International Relations, AMPAIRE. Referring to lessons learned and best practices, AE-7D will standardize physical charging interfaces (connector plugs/sockets) and charging performance specifications (power and communication protocols) to charge batteries installed on electric aircraft.
Furthermore, as a variety of more than 100 electric aircraft designs are hoping to enter the market, a globally standardized interface to safely and efficiently recharge their energy storage devices (e.g. batteries) becomes a necessity. “The aviation industry does not compete on safety, as the whole industry can flourish if the skies are safe. Now is the time for global energy and charging standards to advance a sustainable future for aviation,” states Joshua Portlock, Founder – Chairman, Electro.Aero.
The committee will meet virtually and face to face. Anyone interested in joining the committee should contact, Dorothy Lloyd, Aerospace Standards Specialist, by emailing dorothy.lloyd@sae.org
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