Michelin, Lilium sign eVTOL tyre agreement

German aerospace company Lilium is developing the world’s first all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet, and Michelin has partnered to create tyres for the aircraft. Lilium and Michelin began working together more than a year ago to develop and produce custom tyres for the Lilium Jet and have now signed a final agreement covering design, serial production, and support.

“The partnership leverages Michelin’s 100 plus years of experience working with the aeronautical industry to deliver an innovative tyre solution that meets the safety weight, and reliability requirements for the revolutionary Lilium Jet,” share the two firms in a statement. Michelin expects to deliver the first tyres to Lilium facilities this month.

Developed in line with payload objectives

According to Michelin, this latest announcement underlines Lilium’s strategy of working with best premium aerospace suppliers to accelerate the path to certification. It follows recent announcements on progress toward a start of assembly of the Lilium Jet later this year.

As proper weight and high performance are essential for eVTOLs, it is fundamental that Lilium maximises weight efficiency across every element of the jet. Michelin thus aligned its development goals with Lilium’s payload objectives and produced tyres that “offer best-in-class weight efficiency.” It specifically designed the tyres to facilitate safe vertical take-off and landing operations, “delivering exceptional performance while adhering to stringent weight limits.”

Establishing new standards

Michelin and Lilium anticipate that their shared expertise and collaboration will “establish new standards in aerospace tyre design and integration.” The tyre maker considers the product it designed for the Lilium jet to be “truly one-of-a-kind” and a “major advancement in this critical aviation component,” marrying the challenge of lightweight construction for eVTOL aircraft with the quality and reliability of Michelin aircraft tyres.

“This collaboration, which will introduce new standards in durability for aircraft tyres, is a perfect illustration of the Michelin Group’s strategy of supporting the transformation of aviation to make it more sustainable,” states Sophie Bréchoire, president of the Michelin Group aeronautic activities.

“We are proud of the innovation and development work completed alongside Michelin that has culminated in this agreement,” adds Klaus Roewe, chief executive officer of Lilium. “This critical component, which will help to mobilise and operate our jet at our required specifications and performance levels, serves as a confirmation of our unrelenting pursuit of innovation and sustainability in regional air mobility.”