How to Overcome the Power Cabling Challenges in eVTOL Vehicles

Flying cars, something once thought of as pure science fiction, are nearly ready for takeoff.

However, eVTOL vehicles, or electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, still have some barriers to overcome before they take to the skies at scale.

Bruce Conway, Principal Scientist for AD&M Wire Development at TE Connectivity, spoke on power distribution needs required to make urban air mobility an everyday occurrence.

eVTOLs need power, and those power needs are unique from traditional aerospace designs.

“In the traditional designs, you have a generation plant and a power bus, and you’re simply hanging devices off of that,” Conway said. “Everything’s just a consumer from that. The main power’s being produced by the engines and is consumed by the engines. In the case of eVTOL, you have a battery plant and you have the distribution of the battery plant either through converters or directly to the lift engines. Now, those lift engines can be in a variety of different architectures.”

With traditional architectures, power generally runs in one direction, but with eVTOLs, there is also a charge path to consider, which provides challenges to overcome.

Because eVTOLs cannot be too heavy or too oversized, it is essential to distribute battery power throughout the vehicle as efficiently as possible.

“You have a great deal of problems with routing, with power density, with ohmic losses, and there are a number of ways you can compensate for that,” Conway said.

Some of those ways include raising voltage, deploying nontraditional geometries and utilizing networks rather than linear feeding.

So, yes, there are considerable challenges left before eVTOLs are a viable solution for society’s mobile needs. Still, Conway was excited that the days of science fiction will soon become a reality.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

mentorship
WAVIT’s Mentorship Program: Cyndie Nelson on Building Careers Through Guidance
July 19, 2025

The AV industry, like many others in tech, often thrives on innovation—but it’s mentorship that sustains it. Behind every successful professional is often a mentor who provided guidance, shared hard-earned lessons, and opened doors that might have otherwise stayed shut. Programs like WAVIT (Women in AV/IT) bring this spirit of mentorship into focus by intentionally…

Read More
mentorship
Empowering Innovation: Kim Porter’s Role in the WAVIT Mentorship Program
July 19, 2025

In an industry where innovation often hinges on experience, mentorship is the bridge that connects the wisdom of the past with the promise of the future. Engineering, especially in the mechanical domain, is traditionally seen as a discipline of precision, but its culture is just as vital as its calculations. That’s why programs like WAVIT’s…

Read More
mentorship
Passion, Power, and the Mentorship Paradigm Shift in Tech
July 19, 2025

In today’s rapidly evolving tech world, mentorship has emerged as more than a professional development tool—it’s a powerful human connection that fosters resilience, purpose, and authenticity. Particularly for women in engineering and STEM, mentorship isn’t just about career guidance; it’s a lifeline to navigating environments where their voices may still fight to be heard. While…

Read More
AV
Lessons in Leadership: Mitek’s Cyndie Nelson on the Power of Mentoring Women in AV Technology
July 19, 2025

Mentorship has long been considered a cornerstone of professional development, but in the fast-evolving world of AV technology and sales, its value has never been more evident. The unspoken nuances of tradecraft—those bits of wisdom not found in textbooks—are often only accessible through the lived experience of mentors. Particularly for women in traditionally male-dominated industries,…

Read More