HPDM-1500 integrated aircraft motor drive

The H3X HPDM-1500 is an integrated aircraft motor drive from H3X Technologies: an electric motor with its drive electronics built into one unit, intended for primary propulsion of electric and hybrid-electric aircraft. As an electric motor in the megawatt class, it targets regional-scale platforms and large vehicles rather than small multirotors.

The model name is defined by the maker as an 8-sector, 1.5 MW integrated motor drive rated at 2700 rpm. The 1.5 MW figure is the unit's rated power class, which sets the size of aircraft or the number of propulsors needed to reach a given takeoff power. The 2700 rpm rated speed is low enough for a propeller or fan to be driven directly, and the maker states that its products run at direct-drive speeds, which removes the need for a gearbox and with it a source of maintenance and mechanical complexity.

The eight sectors are the core of the architecture. In H3X multisector designs, each drive sector is electrically, magnetically and thermally isolated from the others, so the machine can continue operating after an electrical failure in one sector. For an integrator this changes the safety case: a single fault reduces available power instead of ending thrust, which is relevant when sizing redundancy for a propulsion system.

Because the controller is integrated, there is no separate motor controller to mount, cool and wire. The unit is connected to the aircraft electrical power system, and the integration work concentrates on the power source, the cooling arrangement and the mechanical interface to the propulsor. Details of supply voltage, cooling method, mass and torque are not given on the page consulted and should be requested from H3X.

For the product family, the maker quotes power densities of 8 to 12 kW/kg at continuous operation and peak efficiencies up to 97%. Higher efficiency reduces the energy storage and heat rejection that the aircraft must carry. H3X states that its multisector aerospace products are designed for primary propulsion and are intended to be certified with the FAA; no certification is claimed as granted.

Typical applications are primary propulsion on regional air mobility aircraft, electric and hybrid-electric airliners of regional scale, large cargo aircraft and other heavy platforms that need direct-drive megawatt-class propulsion.