Optimal Power Source Selection of Advanced Air Mobility for Passenger Transport Use Cases

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is anticipated to be a new mode of transportation, with battery-powered systems frequently being considered due to their simple architecture, ease of maintenance, and zero in-flight emissions. However, technical limitations of batteries impose constraints on mission profiles, making the selection of the most suitable power source crucial for each application. This study focuses on passenger transport use cases for AAM and proposes an approach to identify the optimal power source between two candidates: Battery-powered and Series-hybrid system. The analysis considers various scenarios involving different annual number of passengers, flight distances, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mixing ratios. Our findings suggest that without the use of SAF, the Battery powered system covered 28% of all scenarios for flight distances exceeding 150 km and an annual passenger count between 10,000 to 25,000. Meanwhile, when the SAF mixing ratio reached 50%, the Series-hybrid system was identified as the optimal and more versatile power source in over 60% of all scenarios.