Research project "Lime": Battery system for hybrid-electric aircraft

Aviation Research Project "Lime": Battery System for Hybrid-Electric Aircraft

2026-01-17 From | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

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In the "Lime" research project, short for "Lithium-based Innovation for Modular Energy," Ascendance Flight Technologies as the consortium leader, the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components at RWTH Aachen (Germany), Exoes, Basquevolt, ATR, Airbus, and Daher are working to develop a battery system with Technology Readiness Level 4 for the hybrid-electric propulsion of regional aircraft.

In the Lime project, companies from the aviation and battery industries are working on a battery system for hybrid-electric aircraft.(Image: freely licensed on Pixabay) — In the Lime project, companies from the aviation and battery industries are working on a battery system for hybrid-electric aircraft.
(Image: freely licensed on Pixabay)

In the research project, the first step will be to define the requirements for the battery system. This involves the aircraft manufacturers Airbus, ATR, and Daher as associated partners and potential end users. In the next phase, a prototype is to be developed and tested. Subsequently, its integration into regional aircraft will be evaluated. Along the way, the project will also address the specific requirements of the aviation industry, including certification standards and user requirements under the CS25 regulatory framework for large aircraft over 5,700 kilograms. "If successful, the battery system will surpass the current state of the art in terms of thermal management, energy and power density, as well as safety," says Professor Achim Kampker, head of the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) at RWTH Aachen.

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Digital twin reduces costs

The overall suitability of the prototype will subsequently be demonstrated on the ground. The partners will utilize a digital twin for this purpose. "The use of a detailed digital twin of the entire battery system will serve to optimize development, reduce costs, and minimize physical prototypes to achieve rapid design validation," emphasizes Nikolaus Lackner, project manager at PEM. The project also includes the development of a roadmap for industrialization, outlining the necessary steps to advance the battery system to the level of an economically viable series system for regional aircraft.

Task distribution

What exactly are the project partners working on? While Basquevolt is testing its solid-state cell technology in connection with the project, Exoes contributes expertise in the development and thermal management of battery modules. Ascendance is responsible for the development, validation, and integration of the overall system and acts as the project leader.

As part of the European research program "Clean Aviation," a battery system based on the technologies developed in the "Lime" project is planned to be implemented in hybrid-electric regional aircraft by 2035.
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