• WheelTug e-taxi system helps aircrafts taxi with their fuel-powered engines switched off!

  • plane-wheel
    It’s a common fact that aircrafts are energy suckers and fuel guzzlers. However, what many haven’t come to realize yet is the fact that aircrafts don’t just burn gallons of fuel while flying, but also while on the runway, taxiing. Recently, the Borealis Exploration Limited came up with a fantastic concept that could help airliners reduce their fuel spends quite substantially while also reducing their carbon footprint. Called the WheelTug e-taxi system, this nosewheel-mounted, induction motorised ground propulsion system is capable of tugging around a 90,000kg A320 on ground!

    The system doesn’t require the plane’s engines to work and is instead powered by the auxiliary power unit. This helps save time, fuel, maintenance and money, enabling airliners to save up to $500,000 per year! Quoting Isaiah Cox, WheelTug President and CEO, “The idea of putting an on-board electric drive system on aircraft is not new, since there are so many clear advantages, But until recently there was no electric motor technology with the capability to produce the required high torque for its small size, weight and safety profile to make it possible.”

    [Via – Gizmodo]

    Posted in Topics:Other Stuff, Tags: on November 30, 2013