Sion VS/Quebec – Canada and the province of Quebec will invest around 14 million Swiss francs in the production of electric batteries and have chosen H55 technology. In order for Canada to be able to produce hundreds of thousands of them from 2024, H55 must automate its production by then.
Canada and its east coast province of Quebec plan to build a production facility for the aviation e-batteries developed by H55. The investment amount has not yet been finalized, reports the news platform archyde. However, around 14 million francs are under discussion.
The factory is scheduled to go into operation in 2024. The plan is for it to produce hundreds of thousands of the H55 batteries per year. Until then, the Valais-based company must manage to automate its production, the report says.
H55 is a technological spin-off from the Swiss Solar Impulse e-aircraft project. After Bertrand Piccard succeeded in circumnavigating the earth aboard a solar airplane, including 14 world records, his partner André Borschberg founded H55. According to the company, the core of its product offering includes a lightweight, modular and certifiable energy storage and management system. H55 has already built three electric aircraft, which it is developing and testing at Sion airport.
On the way to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Québec’s Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, paid a visit to H55. He toured the engineering offices, research and development lab, production and flight test facilities on site, according to an H55 statement.
The visit followed the establishment of H55 Canada Ltd in the Greater Montreal Area. This is the first international subsidiary of H55. The H55 announcement goes on to say that H55 Canada will continue to work closely with its existing customers Harbour Air Seaplanes, CAE and Pratt & Whitney Canada on development, production and customer support. mm
