Nuuva hybrid drone: the future of cargo transport?

DW (English)

Meet the cargo drone that could change military and postal logistics: fully autonomous, hybrid-powered, and built by the only company with a certified electric plane. When will it fly for real?

Transcript

00:00This hybrid cargo drone can carry 300 kilograms and fly 550 kilometers, meet the Nuva.

00:06It doesn't need a pilot and aims to be just the tenth of the cost of a helicopter.

00:09The drone was made by Slovenian e-plane pioneer Pipistra.

00:12With electric takeoff and landing and a combustion engine for crews,

00:16it uses fewer heavy batteries and offers greater range.

00:18The first prototype is already in the air and the second one is soon to follow.

00:22It's very new, so you can imagine quite a few different things,

00:25both in the civil market as well as in the government market.

00:28We do see lots of humanitarian opportunities or interest,

00:34things around energy sector and so on and defense sector.

00:39New tech in aviation is risky.

00:41High costs, long certification processes.

00:44Many startups fail, like Germany's Lilium.

00:46Pipistra is different.

00:47It's the only company worldwide offering a fully certified electric plane, the V-LIS.

00:52Over 100 are already flying in more than 20 countries

00:55and the drone borrows many parts from the standard aircraft.

00:58For example, it's already certified electric motors.

01:01That saves time and development costs.

01:03Pipistra has been in the red for the past three years,

01:06but thanks to its parent company Textron, the maker of Cessna, staying afloat.

01:10The hope is, after the costly startup phase, projects like Nuva will eventually pay off.

01:15The goal is to fly automatic.

01:16As the Nuva doesn't have a camera, this is technically demanding, especially in busy airspace.

01:21It follows a constantly updated flight plan and is flying along pre-planned routes with point-and-click control,

01:27yet remains under the watchful eye of ground-based pilots.

01:30It is still unclear how long it will take for Nuva to fly fully autonomously.

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