Bell, Safran share vision for on-demand mobility

Bell air taxi concept

Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, has formed a collaboration with Safran to develop innovative hybrid electric power systems to support Bell’s vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft concept.

“Bell is at the forefront of on-demand mobility – ushering a new era of flight where the benefits of aviation are accessible to more people in more places,” said Scott Drennan, Bell’s director of Innovation, while speaking at the Future of Transportation World Conference in Cologne, Germany. “This announcement is another proof point of our commitment to providing transportation of people and logistics in new, innovative and more efficient ways; our work with Safran is a historical milestone for future transport solutions.” 

For several years, Safran innovation teams have been actively exploring the potential of hybrid solutions for future propulsion systems. Bell and Safran’s shared vision for electric and hybrid electric aircraft is to strive for the successful deployment of Bell Air Taxis and new on demand mobility systems in the future.

“Thanks to the long and sustained technology-development strategy conducted within the Safran group, we can now offer Bell our hybrid electric power solutions for their next generation products that result in improved performance giving more value to our customers,” said Stéphane Cueille, Safran senior executive vice president, R&T and Innovation.

In this collaboration, Bell will lead the design, development, and production of VTOL systems, and Safran will bring its technical expertise to bear in the development of a disruptive propulsion system.