Vertical opens aerospace battery facility, VEC in UK

Vertical Aerospace announces another significant UK investment and innovation milestone with the opening of the Vertical Energy Centre, VEC , believed to be the UK’s most advanced aerospace battery facility, based in Bristol. The multi-million-pound state-of-the-art, 15,000ft2 facility, is one of the only dedicated aerospace battery facilities in the UK. It is home to Vertical’s current 50-strong battery team – drawn from the likes of McLaren, the European Space Agency, Jaguar Land Rover, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Dyson – who are developing proprietary battery technology that is enabling greater power to weight ratios for eVTOL flight…Vertical’s battery systems have undergone a wide range of testing, including temperature, conducted emissions, vibration, thermal durability and characterisation, propagation and drop testing at the VEC. Vertical has previously had significant progress with battery tests, having carried out crash and thermal runaway testing under European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority supervision. Vertical’s expertise on batteries is recognised by the industry with its Head of Powertrain, Dr Limhi Somerville, chairing the eVTOL EuroCAE electrical certification group, the group that is defining the battery standards for electric aviation with EASA. Vertical has developed significant intellectual property around battery design including cell packaging, cooling and electronic battery management systems to deliver high-power, high-performance battery packs capable of powering eVTOL aircraft. Vertical is aiming for entry into service with a 220Wh/kg battery system. This will enable Vertical’s VX4 to conduct back-to-back missions, with fast-charging cycles in-between, and minimised impact on the packs’ cycle life.