Zunumn Aero was founded in 2013 with Ashish Kumar as CEO and Matt Knapp as CTO. Other board members included Logan Jones and Raj Singh. Around the beginning of 2017 they launched plans to fly a prototype hybrid-electric airliner in 2019 or 2020, under the revamped FAR Part 23 rules for electric aircraft standards expected by 2018 and with first type certification by 2020. In April 2017, JetBlue Technology Ventures and Boeing HorizonX invested a combined $6.2 million in Series A funding. This was matched by an $800,000 research and development grant from Washington state’s Clean Energy Fund. Beyond February 2018 Zunum needed $50 million in Series B funding and received bridging loans from JetBlue and Boeing in April, allowing hiring in the summer of 2018. However the company failed to attract additional investors. Nearly all of the 70 staff were laid off in November 2018, bringing complaints of unpaid wages. An in-development electric motor was seized by creditors and both the headquarters in Bothell near Seattle and facilities in Indianapolis closed.
Six-to-12-seat ZA10
Development
On 5 October 2017, Zunum Aero formally launched the development of a six-to-12-seat aircraft. Purchase cost was expected to stay below the list price of a $4.5 million single-engine turboprop such as the Pilatus PC-12 or Cessna Denali. Zunum targets a $250 hourly operating cost including fuel, electricity, and batteries, or 8 cents per ASM. This would be inferior to a Boeing 737 for sectors, comparable to a Q400 over, and 3 to 5 times cheaper than a similarly sized PC-12 or Beechcraft King Air. In May 2018, private jet charter JetSuite was announced as the launch customer for the proposed nine-passenger hybrid, for up to 100 aircraft. Zunum investor JetBlue Airways was also a strategic investor in JetSuite, led by founding JetBlue executive Alex Wilcox. Ground tests of hybrid-electric power system subassemblies began in early 2018. In October 2018, Zunum selected Safran to supply a new 3Z variant of its 1,700-2,000 hp Ardiden turboshaft, delivering 500kW with an electric generator. Turbogenerator and batteries were each designed to provide about half the power required initially, before batteries improved and could take over. The battery packenergy density would be upgraded regularly, to increase planned range from between 2020 and 2030. The evolving batteries would be certified every two years and introduced often, in line with their anticipated short cycle lives at high utilization rates.
Design
Design work focused on the power system. This would initially be a series hybrid type with an onboard turbo-generator supplementing the batteries for longer flights. A 1MW gas turbine would drive twin 500 kW generators supplying batteries installed in the wings. These in turn would drive ducted fans. The rechargeable battery packs would need to be replaced every six months after 1,000-1,500 cycles. The hybrid generator would be used initially to meet FAA reserves for a planned range of 700 nm. It would eventually be replaced with a third battery pack giving a 45-minute reserve. Airport turnarounds were claimed to be as short as 10 minutes for battery swaps or fast chargers. When the company closed Zunum had yet to decide the basic airframe configuration, sizing and materials.
