The Challenges in Certifying Electric Aircraft

The aerospace industry has started to grapple with the reality of getting electric aircraft (EA) certified. This signals the maturing of the field and many players are ramping up their activities to respond to both technical as well as regulatory challenges. In the forefront are the manufactures who are working on new designs and innovative propulsion architectures for standard and more novel configuration aircraft. There are gaps in understand of the requirements as well as the processes for certification of these aircraft. However, there is help on the way in the form of standards development organizations (SDO) such as SAE, ASTM, RTCA, etc., who are supported by regulatory authorities. These experts are stepping in to close some of these gaps. The dust has not yet settled on all the rules and regulations that will guide the applicants in their quest for type certification, so we believe this talk is coming at an appropriate juncture in time. This talk will discuss the certification challenges faced by electric aircraft manufactures in the smaller (normal) as well as the larger (transport) categories. It will not cover autonomous vehicles, even though there is a tendency to conflate electric propulsion with autonomy. This talk is based on the recent Edge Report that tackles this topic and presents recommendation that address technical as well as business issues related to EA certification. Of special importance are the new rule changes in the general aviation category (14CFR Part 23) known as performance-based rules; we will discuss how they affect the electric aircraft sector.