Aerospace company Lilium (Munich, Germany), which developed the Lilium Jet eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) process, announced on July 13 that it has reached an agreement with carbon fiber manufacturer Toray Industries (Tokyo, Japan), according to which Toray will supply Lilium High-performance carbon fiber for manufacturing composite parts and structures.
Lilium Jet is a five-seater, all-electric, emission-free flying vehicle that can take off and land vertically, and is designed to provide a high-speed area connection of up to 300 kilometers in less than 60 minutes. The main structure of the aircraft, such as the fuselage, wings and flaps will be made of Toray's carbon fiber composite materials.
Lilium said Toray will directly supply Lilium with carbon fiber, which was initially used to produce other technology demonstrators. But when Lilium Jet enters prototype production, Toray will provide carbon fiber to suppliers, which will produce parts for Lilium.
The agreement also paves the way for further cooperation between the two companies in providing other high-performance materials and establishing R&D partnerships.
Commenting on the partnership, Yves Yemsi, Lilium’s chief project officer, said: “Toray’s extensive experience in high-performance carbon fiber and composite materials is self-evident, and we are proud to be one of the aerospace companies they supply.
"We look forward to working closely with Toray in the next few years and working with mature and reliable aerospace suppliers in other technical fields to build an elastic and agile supply chain for Lily Jet."
Speaking of the partnership, Minoru Yoshinaga, Toray’s senior vice president and general manager of Toray’s Composite Materials Division, said: “We are very pleased to be selected as a partner by Lilium, one of the most promising companies in this emerging market sector. We look forward to working with Lilium to solve the environmental problems in urban areas through the power of materials."