Pipistrel Velis Electro


The Pipistrel Velis Electro is a Slovenian light aircraft, designed and produced by Pipistrel of Ajdovščina. The aircraft was type certified in June 2020 and intended primarily for the training aircraft role. The design is the first type certified electric aircraft and is supplied complete and ready-to-fly.

Design and development

The aircraft is based on the Pipistrel Virus airframe and features a cantilever high-wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration in an enclosed cabin accessed via doors. It has fixed tricycle landing gear and a single electric motor in tractor configuration.
The design received its European Aviation Safety Agency type certificate for day, visual flight rules operations, on 10 June 2020, after a certification period of just under three years. The short time frame for the first certification of an electric aircraft was attributed by EASA to "close co-operation" between the manufacturer and the agency. The design was approved as a variant of the Virus on the same type certificate and is officially designated by EASA as the Virus SW 128 .
The airframe is predominantly made from composite materials. Its span wing, has an area of, an aspect ratio of 12.03:1, an IMD 029-b airfoil and mounts three-position flaps, with settings of 0°, 8° and 19°.
The sole approved powerplant is the liquid-cooled Pipistrel E-811 electric motor, rated at at 2500 rpm for 90 seconds for take-off and at 2350 rpm for continuous operation. The motor was developed in conjunction with the Slovenian engineering companies Emrax and Emsiso and is powered by two liquid-cooled Pipistrel PB345V124E-L 345 VDC, 11.0kWh lithium batteries connected in parallel. One battery is mounted in the nose and one behind the cabin for balance. The radiator is mounted in the nose, which necessitates a different engine cowling that the Virus design. It has a built-in continuous health-monitoring system. The E-811 is the first certified electric aircraft motor and was certified by EASA on 18 May 2020.
The Velis Electro has a maximum noise level of 60 dBa.
The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of, giving a useful load of.
The aircraft is in production and the manufacturer has indicated that they intend to deliver 31 examples during 2020. The first one was delivered on 16 July 2020 to a customer in Switzerland.

Specifications