Harbour Air is receiving almost $1.6 million from the provincial government to improve its electric plane.
The float plane company, that flies out of Vancouver International Airport’s south terminal as well as other communities, will use the money to design a better electric motor and better batteries in order to carry commercial passengers in its “ePlane.”
Harbour Air launched the world’s first all-electric flight almost two years ago.
“This type of funding confirms the importance of encouraging companies in all sectors to focus on what they can be doing to look at more sustainable practices,” said Greg McDougall, Harbour Air CEO and ePlane test pilot in a press release. “We will use these resources to continue to develop and lead the transportation industry around the world in all-electric aviation.”
McDougall flew the electric-powered DCH-2 de Havilland Beaver float plane for three minutes in December 2019 in the first ever all-electric commercial aircraft.
Since then, Harbour Air has performed almost 30 test flights whereby they have been evaluating the performance of its ePlane, for example, takeoff, range and endurance.
The money to improve the plane is coming through the provincial government CleanBC initiative, which is giving out $8.18 million to 18 projects as part of its Electric Advanced Research and Commercialization (ARC) program.
- with files from Kirsten Clarke
