Additional electric eFlyer orders announced

The order “covers several hundred of our aircraft, including additional eFlyer 2 and eFlyer 4s, a substantial expansion of their original position,” explained Bye Aerospace Founder George Bye in an email to AOPA.

Quantum previously signed a purchase agreement in August for 22 eFlyer 4 models and two eFlyer 2 aircraft. The company's leadership recently visited the aircraft maker’s Denver headquarters to meet Bye’s executive and engineering teams and to view the operation of an eFlyer prototype, Bye added.

A joint news release during the National Business Aviation Association convention hailed the agreement as a cornerstone “to launch the coming urban air mobility revolution.” Quantum CEO Tony Thompson said he plans to operate “a fleet of hundreds of aircraft” in a push to “make local and point-to-point air transportation a reality.”

Quantum’s multi-modal aeromobility fleet will include “electric and hybrid-electric aircraft, fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, land and sea aircraft,” Thompson said. “This transaction cements Bye Aerospace’s status as the foremost electric aircraft manufacturer, and Quantum’s status as the foremost aeromobility operator, in the nation.”

A $5,000 deposit can secure a $349,000 eFlyer 2 (base price), while a $10,000 commitment can secure a $449,000 eFlyer 4 (base price). Typically equipped aircraft will sell for $400,000 and $520,000, respectively, Bye said.

Bye also hinted about plans for an “upcoming and not yet announced eFlyer X—a pressurized, retract gear version of the eFlyer 4” that could be secured for a $15,000 deposit, although a base price was unavailable.

An electric 90-kilowatt motor that develops approximately 115 horsepower can push the composite-constructed eFlyer 2 to a top speed of 135 knots, Bye told AVweb during a video posted to YouTube in May. He said the airplane has “just the right balance of torque and thrust and weight.”

The low-wing aircraft will be outfitted with Garmin G3X Touch avionics and is expected to be certified in early 2021 for flight under Part 23 of the federal aviation regulations.

Bye added that Lithium-ion battery chemistry has steadily advanced and that he expected the technology would “continue to improve” as it matures.

The zero-emission aircraft has drawn international attention as well. OSM Aviation Group, a Norwegian flight academy, ordered 60 eFlyer 2 aircraft.