Sustainable aviation company, Dovetail Electric Aviation, has selected the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of software to design zero-emission battery and hydrogen-electric propulsion systems for commercial aircraft. Optimising the principles of the circular economy, the propulsion systems will be retrofitted into legacy airplanes used by regional airlines and leisure and cargo flights, helping them reduce operating costs by up to 40%, while truly decarbonising air transportation.
Headquartered in Australia, and with operations in Spain, Dovetail is currently the only company worldwide converting Cessna 208s into zero-emission battery electric mode, and the only company designing a hydrogen-electric retrofit for the Beechcraft King Air, the most successful aircraft in its category. Dovetail recently signed Scandinavian Seaplanes as a customer, and counts among its investors and financial supporters Regional Express in Australia, the Victoria Government, and Air Nostrum and Volotea in Spain.
NX X software for cloud-enabled CAD will help Dovetail develop the propulsion systems and engines, creating seamless collaborative workflows between teams based in Spain and Australia. Dovetail will benefit from turning digital twin design concepts and iterations into viable prototypes more quickly, thereby saving time in design and rework.
“A lot has changed in the world of aviation, but the fundamental structure of an aircraft hasn’t changed much. Therefore, it makes perfect business and sustainability sense to retrofit capable aircraft with new generation, zero-emission drivetrains that take a significant step towards cleaner air travel. This helps us achieve net zero and saves costs. As we’ve grown, we’ve realised the need to invest in software that helps us create digital twins of the propulsion systems we design, which is easily accessible worldwide, and increases collaboration between our design teams in Australia and Spain. Siemens software is at the heart of our ability to deliver zero emissions air travel, while enabling aircraft operators to reduce operating costs by up to 40%,” said David Doral, CEO of Dovetail Electric Aviation.
In addition to bringing to market a battery electric propulsion concept, Dovetail is also developing a hydrogen-electric version, including a fuel cell and a hydrogen storage system. NX X will enable Dovetail to be efficient in editing and viewing complex design models, speed up product development, and more effectively manage the design process by creating a digital thread through the design process.
“Digital twins are vital when designing mission-critical final products such as race cars, racing yachts, ships, space satellites, and now alternative aircraft propulsion systems. Our software has a great history and heritage of helping various companies push the boundaries and go beyond frontiers,” said Samantha Murray, managing director of Siemens Digital Industries Software, Australia and New Zealand. “It’s great to be part of Dovetail’s journey as they use technology and innovation to address the biggest challenge of our time, climate change. We talk about the importance of the circular economy in economic and environmental sustainability, and here’s a great example of a company achieving just that using our software.”
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