ZeroAvia's mission is a hydrogen-electric, zero-emission powertrain in every aircraft. The company produces practical zero emission aviation powertrains targeting 9-19-passenger airplanes to start replacing dirty jet fuel by 2024. ZeroAvia’s novel hydrogen-electric powertrain replaces traditional engines on existing fixed wing aircraft, simplifying regulatory issues and reducing time to market. Renewable hydrogen stored in tanks is converted to electricity in flight using a fuel cell, which then powers the electric motors.

Already tested and demonstrated

• The first commercial scale electric flight for a 6-seat aircraft.
• Completed the first flight of 19-seat Dornier 228 in 2024.

Roadmap

• Powertrain for up to 20 seat planes for certification with a target of the end of 2025. (320 NM range)
• Planning a demonstration flight partnering KLM in 2026.
• Powertrain for 40-80 seat aircraft by 2027. (1000 NM range)
• Commercial 100-200 seat aircraft by 2030. (2000 NM range)

ZeroAvia zero-emission powertrain has 75% lower fuel and maintenance costs, resulting in up to 50% total trip cost reduction. It delivers 300–500 mile zero emission missions in a 10–20 seat fixed wing aircraft to utilize existing infrastructure and simplify regulatory issues.

ZeroAvia has raised a total of $293M in funding. Their latest funding was raised on Sep 12, 2024 from a Series C round. ZeroAvia is funded by 19 investors. AP Ventures and Climate Pledge Fund are the most recent ones.

Zero Avia provides hydrogen electric powertrains to replace traditional aviation engines with the operation and maintenance service as well. The technology will be tested in 2023 to be commercially available by 2024. From there onwards, there might be more clarifications on the business model.

• Safety: Non-toxic hydrogen and compressed gas storage is more reliable with less severe consequences in the event of failure. Compressed hydrogen tank integrity is superior to conventional liquid fuel tanks. Also, hydrogen has a lower radiant heat than conventional gasoline.
• Integrability: ZeroAvia’s powertrain repowers existing airframe models. The company works with certified fixed-wing airframe models to retrofit and line-fit, simplifying regulatory issues and reducing time to market.
• Expected consumption: ~1 kg/minute (so, for the first flights they would have about 60 kg of hydrogen on the plane. Which would cover around 200 miles).
• Scalability: the improvement of hydrogen fuel cells and the increase in renewable hydrogen production enables for a better scalability of this technology with no emissions associated. In comparison to a battery solution
• Fast refill solution that requires similar type of architecture/infrastructure as the existing ones.

Its aiming to compete with conventional engines in propeller aircraft, with an aim of zero-emission and lower noise.