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We’re ending this week’s Green Deals strong with a solid array of ways to electrify your upcoming adventures through spring. First, EcoFlow has continued its seasonal savings with its latest Power-up Your Spring Adventure sale that is offering up to 59% discounts on power stations – some continuing, some new – with plenty of low prices, multiple ways for extra savings, free gifts, and more. Among the offers, we spotted the brand’s DELTA 2 Max bundle with two 200W solar panels and a protective bag hitting a new $1,424 low. Right behind it is Heybike’s St. Paddy’s Day sale, which is adding new deals every few days and is currently offering popular bundles like the Ranger S Folding Fat Tire e-bike and $198 in free gear for $1,099. We also have an exclusive $2,900 in savings on the Mango Power E Portable Power Station that sports CATL battery cells hitting a new $899 low, as well as another collection of EGO Power+ lawncare tools, this time led by the 56V 26-inch Cordless Hedge Trimmer that has fallen to its $199 Amazon low. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals are in the links at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s massive $2,598+ launch savings on Anker’s new F3800 Plus Portable Power Station, Rad Power’s Spring e-bike Sale offers, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

EcoFlow shifts to Spring Sale’s second phase, increasing savings with new lows, free gear, more – all from $50

It seems EcoFlow’s spring savings are not finished yet, as the brand has switched over to its Power-up Your Spring Adventures sale through March 26 with up to 59% discounts across its power stations, some being continuing deals, while others are fresh additions – plus, there are plenty of bonus savings and free gifts. Among the returning offers, we spotted a new low price on the DELTA 2 Max Portable Power Station bundle with two 220W solar panels and a protective bag for $1,424.05 shipped, after using the exclusive code 25SSAFF5 at checkout for an additional 5% off. Coming further than ever off its usual $3,276 MSRP, we saw it during the previous spring offers only coming down to $1,519 (with the code). In this new iteration of the sale, it’s getting a larger $1,852 cut from its tag, landing it at a new all-time low.

Like we’ve seen previously, there are a few ways at extra savings during this sale, starting with the exclusive sitewide 5% off discount you’ll get with the code 25SSAFF5 at checkout. On top of that, you can also get an additional 3% off on orders over $2,000, which can be bumped up to 6% once you’ve reached an order total of $5,000 or more. The 2x EcoCredits promotion has been extended from a select few offers to the whole of the sale now while also still offering a free RAPID 20W GaN charger with a 60W cable on orders between $400 and $2,000. EcoFlow has added free Power Hats accompanying select offers, as well.

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Your spring adventuring will be well supported with this EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max bundle, which provides you with a 2,048Wh LiFePO4 capacity to start, but can be invested into over time to expand up to 6,144Wh with the appropriate expansion batteries. Most of the appliances you’ll be relying on will be covered with 2,400W power output and 15 versatile port options, which you can ramp up to 3,400W output by activating its X-Boost mode. You can connected two solar inputs at once, up to its 1,000W maximum, giving you the means to charge via the sun – or you can gain an 80% battery with a standard outlet in 1.1 hours, which can drop to 43 minutes by using its dual AC and solar capabilities, among others.

***Note: The sitewide 5% discount has not been factored into prices below – be sure to use the code 25SSAFF5 at checkout to score the best prices during this sale!

EcoFlow’s spring adventure sale RV deals:

EcoFlow spring adventure sale campsite deals:

EcoFlow spring adventure sale on-the-go deals:

EcoFlow spring adventure sale home backup deals:

EcoFlow spring adventure sale solar panel deals:

EcoFlow spring adventure sale other deals:

You can browse the entirety of EcoFlow’s Power-up Your Spring Adventures sale by following this link to the landing page.

Heybike Ranger S folding fat tire e-bike

Heybike’s St. Paddy’s Day Sale kicks off with $500 e-bike discounts and $198 in free gear starting from $999

Heybike is launching the first flash savings of its St. Paddy’s Day Sale that is slated to run through March 20 with up to $500 being taken off a selection of e-bikes along with including free gear. Among the bunch, we’re seeing the popular Ranger S Folding Fat Tire e-bike down at $1,099 shipped and coming with $198 in free gear. This package would normally cost you nearly $1,700 at full price, but the combined 35% markdown here is putting $598 back in your pocket while the limited savings last (the countdown clock states two days for this round at the time of writing this). Although we’ve seen the price go as low as $899 back during Black Friday, we haven’t seen it or its $999 flash-sale rates since, with this being the third-lowest price we have tracked and the only price we’ve seen so far in 2025.

Heybike’s Ranger S Folding e-bike is one of the brand’s most popular and best-selling models, and it’s not hard to argue why when it is so regularly down at these low rates. You have two options for motor sizes here, with the standard 750W rear hub motor (peaking at 1,400W) coming stock, which you can upgrade to its 1,000W counterpart (1,800W peak) for $200 more. Utilizing their five PAS levels, you’ll hit top speeds of 28 MPH with the standard motor (supported by a cadence sensor) and 32 MPH with the upgraded motor (supported by a torque sensor), while both house a 692Wh battery for up to 55 miles of travel on a single four-hour charge.

That faster charging time is thanks to the improved 4A charger that accompanies the e-bikes, which is twice as strong as the average chargers we usually see. Along with the included free large basket and front basket that has an iron bottom, you’ll also enjoy some quality stock features: a folding step-thru frame, a hydraulic front suspension fork, hydraulic disc brakes, an integrated rear cargo rack (which one of the baskets attach to), 20-inch fat tires with fenders over each, an LED headlight, an LED taillight with brake lighting, and a smart LCD display.

Heybike’s other St. Paddy’s Day flash e-bike offers:

  • Mars 2.0 Folding Fat-Tire e-bike: $999 (Reg. $1,499)
    • 28 MPH for up to 45 miles
    • 1,000W motor (32 MPH speed) costs $100 more
    • comes with free front basket and large basket
  • Cityrun Urban Commuter e-bike: $999 (Reg. $1,599)
    • 21 MPH for up to 55 miles
    • comes with free front basket and large basket
  • Horizon Full-Suspension e-bike: $1,399 (Reg. $1,999)
    • 28 MPH for 55 miles
    • comes with free front basket and large basket
  • Brawn Off-Road e-bike: $1,499 (Reg. $1,799)
    • 28 MPH for 65 miles
    • comes with free large basket
Mango Power E portable power station

Save an exclusive $2,900 on the Mango Power E 3,500Wh station with CATL batteries while it’s at a new $899 low

Wellbots is giving 9to5Toys some exclusive savings on the Mango Power E Portable Power Station that drops the price to $899 shipped, after using the code 9TO5MANGO at checkout for an additional $600 off. Already down off its full $3,799 price tag, this is some serious savings we’re getting here, which starts already discounted to $1,499 that gets all the better with the bonus $600 we’ve scored for our readers. You’re looking at a massive 76% markdown that gives you back $2,900 in savings and drops things further than ever to a new all-time low, beating the former lowest price we can find by $415.

Mango’s Power E unit sports a slightly different build than we’re used to seeing in power stations, with CATL battery cells that are typically found in EVs from Mercedes Benz, Tesla, BMW, and more. It provides a 3,500Wh capacity that can expand to 7kWh with an extra battery or 14kWh with two – plus, its starting 3,000W output expands to 7,000W with the two extra battery setup. There are 16 output port options too: four ACs, six USB-As, two USB-Cs, two DCs, one car port, and a RV port. By pairing the station with the mSocket Pro accessory, it even becomes a split-phase generator capable of covering the power needs for larger heavy-consumption appliances like heaters, dryers, water pumps, and more.

There are a few different recharging methods to choose from, starting with a standard wall outlet that can reach an 80% battery in just one hour, while you can also connect up to its 2,000W solar input for charging via the sun’s rays, as well as a maximum 3,000W input for any generator you might have. It appears as though you can even apply for a 30% IRS tax credit once you have secured this device for yourself, according to the brand, only adding to your overall savings.

EGO Power+ 56V 26-inch cordless hedge trimmer

Get shrubbery back in shape with EGO’s 56V 26-inch cordless hedge trimmer at $199 Amazon low

We’re seeing some amazing EGO Power+ deals while the brand’s Power+ Savings event continues, with Amazon now offering the brand’s 56V 26-inch Cordless Hedge Trimmer for $199 shipped. Coming down off its usual $249 price tag, which it’s been keeping to since early June’s fall to the same rate, this is the first savings we’ve seen on this popular model in 10 months. The deal here comes in the form of a 20% markdown that saves you $50 off the going rate, dropping costs back to the lowest price we have tracked on Amazon.

Spring cleaning isn’t just about clearing out the dust that has gathered inside your home, but also getting your outdoor spaces back into shape – including your hedges and shrubbery. You’ll have a reliable means to shape up those unruly plants with EGO’s 26-inch cordless hedge trimmer, which comes with a 2.5Ah battery for 60 minutes of continuous use. The dual-action blades will make cuts at up to 3,400 strokes per minute, with a five-position, 180-degree rotating handle for effortless control and comfort. There’s no need for concern about getting caught in April’s coming showers either, as the IPX4 build helps protect it from sudden weather changes while you’re working.

More EGO hedge trimmer deals:

Other notable EGO garden care deals:

If you’ve been looking for a new riding mower, we’re seeing a bunch of low prices across EGO’s lineup of models right now, starting with the T6 56V 42-inch Cordless Riding Lawn Tractor that has fallen to a new $3,499 low, along with the brand’s zero-turn models in the same post. If you’d prefer a more standard push mower, you’ll still find the 56V 21-inch Cordless Self-Propelled mower that comes with two 6.0Ah batteries for a 100-minute runtime down at its $700 low.

Best New Year EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Environment

‘Repowering’ era for America’s aging wind energy industry begins, despite Trump’s effort to kill it

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7 hours ago

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April 27, 2025

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'Repowering' era for America's aging wind energy industry begins, despite Trump's effort to kill it

Jeffrey Sanders / 500px | 500px | Getty Images

On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump issued an executive order indefinitely halting permits for new onshore wind energy projects on federal land, as well as new leases for offshore wind farms in U.S. coastal waters. The action not only fulfilled Trump’s “no new windmills” campaign pledge, but struck yet another blow to the wind industry, which has been hit hard over the past few years by supply chain snags, price increases upending project economics, public opposition and political backlash against federal tax credits, especially those spurring the fledgling offshore wind sector.

Nonetheless, the nation’s well-established onshore wind industry, built out over several decades, is generating nearly 11% of America’s electricity, making it the largest source of renewable energy and at times last year exceeding coal-fired generation. On April 8, the fossil-fuels-friendly Trump administration took measures to bolster coal mining and power plants, but as the infrastructure driving wind energy ages, efforts to “repower” it are creating new business opportunities for the industry’s key players.

This repowering activity has emerged as a bright spot for the wind industry, giving a much-needed boost to market leaders GE Vernova, Vestas and Siemens Gamesa, a subsidiary of Munich-based Siemens Energy. Following several challenging years of lackluster performance — due in particular to setbacks in both onshore and offshore projects — all three companies reported revenue increases in 2024, and both GE Vernova and Siemens stock have moved higher.

GE Vernova, spun off from General Electric a year ago, led overall onshore wind installations in 2024, with 56% of the U.S. market, followed by Denmark’s Vestas (40%) and Siemens Gamesa (4%).

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GE Vernova stock performance over the past one-year period.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, installed wind power generating capacity grew from 2.4 gigawatts (GW) in 2000 to 150.1 GW as of April 2024. Although the growth rate for launching new greenfield onshore wind farms has slowed over the last 10 years, the U.S. is still poised to surpass 160 GW of wind capacity in 2025, according to a new report from energy research firm Wood Mackenzie.

There currently are about 1,500 onshore wind farms — on which more than 75,600 turbines are spinning — across 45 states, led by Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kansas. Virtually all of the wind farms are located on private land, and many of the largest ones are owned and operated by major energy companies, including NextEra Energy, RWE Clean Energy, Pattern Energy, Clearway Energy, Xcel Energy and Berkshire Hathaway‘s MidAmerican Energy, which generates 59% of it renewable energy from wind, including 3,500 turbines operating across 38 wind projects in Iowa.

A growing number of the turbines are 20-plus years old and nearing the end of their lifecycle. So increasingly, operators have to decide whether to upgrade or replace aging turbines’ key components, such as blades, rotors and electronics, or dismantle them altogether and erect new, technologically advanced and far more efficient models that can increase electricity output by up to 50%.

“What’s becoming clear is that more and more of the U.S. installed base [of onshore turbines] has exceeded its operational design life,” said Charles Coppins, research analyst for global wind at Wood Mackenzie, “and now operators are looking to replace those aging turbines with the latest [ones].”

To date, approximately 70 GW of onshore wind capacity has been fully repowered in the U.S., according to Wood Mackenzie, while an additional 12 GW has been partially repowered. The firm estimates that around 10,000 turbines have been decommissioned and that another 6,000 will be retired in the next 10 years, Coppins said.

Damaged wind turbine that was first hit by a tornado then lightning.

Ryan Baker | Istock | Getty Images

Beyond the fact that aged-out turbines need to be upgraded or replaced, repowering an existing wind farm versus building a new site presents economic benefits to operators and OEMs. To begin with, there’s no need to acquire property. In fact, in certain situations, because today’s turbines are larger and more efficient, fewer turbines are needed. And they’ll generate additional electricity and have longer lifecycles, ultimately delivering higher output at a lower cost.

Even so, “there are some limitations on how much capacity you could increase a project by without having to go through new permitting processes or interconnection queues” to the power grid, said Stephen Maldonado, Wood Mackenzie’s U.S. onshore analyst. As long as the operator is not surpassing the allowed interconnection volume agreed to with the local utility, they can add electricity to the project and still send it to the grid.

Public opposition, Maldonado said, may be another hurdle to get over. Whether it’s a new or repower wind project, residents have expressed concerns about environmental hazards, decreased property values, aesthetics and general anti-renewables sentiment.

RWE, a subsidiary of Germany’s RWE Group, is the third largest renewable energy company in the U.S., owning and operating 41 utility-scale wind farms, according to its CEO Andrew Flanagan, making up 48% of its total installed operating portfolio and generating capacity, which also includes solar and battery storage.

One of RWE’s two repower projects underway (both are in Texas), is its Forest Creek wind farm, originally commissioned in 2006 and featuring 54 Siemens Gamesa turbines. The project will replace them with 45 new GE Vernova turbines that will extend the wind farm’s life by another 30 years once it goes back online later this year. Simultaneously, RWE and GE Vernova are partnering on a new wind farm, immediately adjacent to Forest Creek, adding another 64 turbines to the complex. When complete, RWE will deliver a total of 308 MW of wind energy to the region’s homes and businesses.

Flanagan noted that the combined projects are related to increased electricity demands from the area’s oil and gas production. “It’s great to see our wind generation drive the all-of-the-above energy approach,” he said. What’s more, at its peak, the repower project alone will employ 250 construction workers and over its operating period bring in $30 million in local tax revenue, he added.

In turn, the twin projects will support advanced manufacturing jobs at GE Vernova’s Pensacola, Florida, facility, as well as advancing the OEM’s repower business. In January, the company announced that in 2024 it received orders to repower more than 1 GW of wind turbines in the U.S.

Koiguo | Moment | Getty Images

Siemens Gamesa has executed several large U.S. repowering projects, notably MidAmerican’s expansive Rolling Hills wind farm in Iowa, which went online in 2011. In 2019, the company replaced 193 older turbines with 163 higher-capacity models produced at its manufacturing plants in Iowa and Kansas.

Last year, Siemens Gamesa began repowering RWE’s 17-year-old Champion Wind, a 127-MW wind farm in West Texas. The company is upgrading 41 of its turbines with new blades and nacelles (the housing at the top of the tower containing critical electrical components) and adding six new turbines.

In early April, Clearway announced an agreement with Vestas to repower its Mount Storm Wind farm in Grant County, West Virginia. The project will include removing the site’s 132 existing turbines and replacing them with 78 new models. The repower will result in an 85% increase in Mount Storm’s overall electricity generation while using 40% fewer turbines.

Preparing for ‘megatons’ of turbine recycling and tariffs

Another benefit of repowering is invigorating the nascent industry that’s recycling megatons of components from decommissioned turbines, including blades, steel, copper and aluminum. Most of today’s operational turbines are 85% to 95% recyclable, and OEMs are designing 100% recyclable models.

While the majority of mothballed blades, made from fiberglass and carbon fiber, have historically ended up in landfills, several startups have developed technologies recycle them. Carbon Rivers, for example, contracts with the turbine OEMs and wind farm operators to recover glass fiber, carbon fiber and resin systems from decommissioned blades to produce new composites and resins used for next-generation turbine blades, marine vessels, composite concrete and auto parts.

Veolia North America, a subsidiary of the French company Veolia Group, reconstitutes shredded blades and other composite materials into a fuel it then sells to cement manufacturers as a replacement for coal, sand and clay. Veolia has processed approximately 6,500 wind blades at a facility in Missouri, and expanded its processing capabilities to meet demand, according to David Araujo, Veolia’s general manager of engineered fuels.

Trump’s new-project moratorium isn’t his only impediment to the wind industry. The president’s seesaw of import tariffs, especially the 25% levy on steel and aluminum, is impacting U.S. manufacturers across most sectors.

The onshore wind industry, however, “has done a really good job of reducing geopolitical risks,” said John Hensley, senior vice president for markets and policy analysis at the American Clean Power Association, a trade group representing the clean energy industry. He cited a manufacturing base in the U.S. that includes hundreds of plants producing parts and components for turbines. Although some materials are imported, the investment in domestic manufacturing “provides some risk mitigation to these tariffs,” he said.

Amidst the headwinds, the onshore wind industry is trying to stay focused on the role that repowering can play in meeting the nation’s exponentially growing demand for electricity. “We’re expecting a 35% to 50% increase between now and 2040, which is just incredible,” Hensley said. “It’s like adding a new Louisiana to the grid every year for 15 years.”

GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik recently told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the growth of the U.S.’s electric load is the largest since the industrial boom that followed the end of the second world war. “You’ve got to go back to 1945 and the end of World War II, that’s the infrastructure buildout that we’re going to have,” he said. 

As OEMs and wind farm developers continue to face rising capital costs for new projects, as well as a Trump administration averse to clean energy industries, “repowering offers a pathway for delivering more electrons to the grid in a way that sidesteps or at least minimizes some of the challenges associated with all these issues,” Hensley said.

Vestas CEO says wind turbine manufacturer is ‘well positioned’ amid tariff concerns

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Environment

ABB is bringing its new, 1.2 MW modular truck chargers to ACT Expo

Published

22 hours ago

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April 26, 2025

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ABB is bringing its new, 1.2 MW modular truck chargers to ACT Expo

Capable of delivering up to 1,200 kW of power to get electric commercial trucks back on the road in minutes, the new ABB MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System is part of an ecosystem of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) that ABB’s bringing to this year’s ACT Expo.

ABB E-mobility is using the annual clean trucking conference to showcase the expansion of its EVSE portfolio with three all-new charger families: the field-upgradable A200/300 All-in-One chargers, the MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System for heavy-duty vehicles shown (above), and the ChargeDock Dispenser for flexible depot charging.

The company said its new product platform was built by applying a computer system-style domain separation to charger design, fundamentally improving subsystem development and creating a clear path forward for site and system expansion. In other words, ABB is selling a system with both future-proofing and enhanced dependability baked in.

“We have built a system by logically separating a charger into four distinct subsystems … each functioning as an independent subsystem,” explains Michael Halbherr, CEO of ABB E-mobility. “Unlike conventional chargers, where a user interface failure can disable the entire system, our architecture ensures charging continues even if the screen or payment system encounters issues. Moreover, we can improve each subsystem at its own pace without having to change the entire system.”

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The parts of ABB’s new EVSE portfolio that have been made public so far have already been recognized for design excellence, with the A400 winning the iF Gold Award and both the A400 and C50 receiving Red Dot Design Awards.

New ABB chargers seem pretty, good

ABB’s good-looking family; via ABB.

ABB says the systemic separation of its EVSE enhances both reliability and quality, while making deployed chargers easier to diagnose and repair, in less time. Each of the chargers’ subsystems can be tested, diagnosed, and replaced independently, allowing for quick on-site repairs and update cycles tailored to the speed of each systems’ innovation. The result is 99% uptime and a more future-proof product.

“The EV charging landscape is evolving beyond point products for specific use cases,” continued Halbherr. “By implementing this modular approach with the majority of our R&D focused on modular platforms rather than one-off products … it reduces supply chain risks, while accelerating development cycles and enabling deeper collaboration with critical suppliers.”

Key markets ABB is chasing

HVC 360 Charge Dock Dispenser depot deployment; via ABB.
  • PUBLIC CHARGING – with the award winning A400 being the optimal fit for high power charging from highway corridors to urban locations, the latest additions to the A-Series All-in-One chargers offer a field-upgradable architecture allowing operators to start with the A200 (200kW) with the option to upgrade to 300kW or 400kW as demand grows. This approach offers scalability and protects customer investment, leading to Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings over 10 years.
  • PUBLIC TRANSIT AND FLEET – the new Charge Dock Dispenser – in combination with the already in market available HVC 360 – simplifies depot charging with a versatile solution that supports pantograph-, roof-, and pedestal charging options with up to 360kW of shared power and 150m/490 ft installation flexibility between cabinet and dispensers. The dispenser maintains up to 500A output.
  • HEAVY TRUCKS – building the matching charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles and fleets represents a critical innovation frontier on our journey to electrify transportation. Following extensive collaboration with industry-leading truck OEMs, the MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System delivers up to 1,200kW of continuous power — 20% more energy transfer than 1MW systems — providing heavy-duty vehicles with purpose-built single-outlet design for the energy they need during mandatory driver breaks. To support other use cases, such as CCS truck charging, a dual CCS and MCS option will also be available.
  • RETAIL – the award winning C50 Compact Charger complements the family as the slimmest charger in its category at just 9.3 inches depth, optimized for convenient charging during typical one-hour retail experiences. With its large touch display, the C50 takes the award-winning A400 experience even further — setting a new standard for consumer experience and very neatly echoing our own take on that “Goldilocks” timing zone for commercial charging.

ABB says that the result of its new approach are chargers that offer 99% plus uptime — a crucial statistic for commercial charging operations and a key factor to ensuring customer satisfaction. The new ABB E-mobility EVSE product family will be on display for the first time at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo (ACT Expo) in Anaheim, California next week, then again at Power2Drive in Munich, Germany, from May 7-9.

Electrek’s Take

BEV trucks and buses at ACT Expo in Long Beach; image by the author.
ACT Expo test drives; by the author.

The ACT Expo is one of – if not the most important sustainable trucking event in North America, featuring all the big names in heavy trucks, construction equipment, material handling, infrastructure – even Tier 1 suppliers. Mostly, though, it’s many fleet buyers’ only chance to test drive these zero emission trucks before writing a big PO (which just makes it even more important).

Electrek will be there again this year, and we’ll be bringing you all the latest news from press events and product reveals as it happens.

SOURCE | IMAGES: ABB E-mobility.

If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them. 

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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Environment

Whisper Aero ultralight aircraft scores $500K for “UltraQuiet” electric jet motor tests

Published

23 hours ago

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April 26, 2025

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Whisper Aero ultralight aircraft scores 0K for

Whisper's "UltraQuiet" propulsion system to power acrobatic glider

Along with Tennessee Tech, Tennessee-based ultralight aircraft company Whisper Aero has secured a $500,000 grant to help advance the company’s innovative electric jet motor concept off the drawing board and onto the testing phase.

Earlier this month, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) announced plans to award $500,000 to Tennessee Tech and Whisper Aero through the Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) initiative.

“We look forward to using these award dollars to place students in internships working directly with Whisper Aero leaders,” said Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham. “By learning from an electric propulsion innovator like Whisper Aero, our students will gain invaluable perspective and can take what they have learned in the classroom and apply it right here in Tennessee.”

The grant will see a Whisper Aero glider fitted with a pair of the company’s eQ250 electric-powered jet “propulsors” for UltraQuiet flight. Tennessee Tech faculty and students will carry out copper-bird ground testing to ensure the safe integration of engines, batteries, and controllers, and kickstart Tennessee Tech’s new Crossville Mobility Incubator.

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Those propulsors, by the way, are super cool.

UnltraQuiet WhisperDrive; via Whisper Aero.

Whisper Aero’s main claim to fame is its innovative UltraQuiet WhisperDrive (above). It’s effectively an electrically spun ducted fan jet engine that uses a large number of stiff composite fan blades inside a lightweight, acoustically treated duct. With so many blades, the Whisper Aero propulsor can push more air than a conventional prop while spinning much more slowly. As such, the “blade passage frequency” moves up to more than 16,000 Hz – outside the range of most human hearing but not, supposedly, high enough to freak out the beagles.

The Whisper Aero ultralight is effectively an Aériane Swift3 glider fitted with a pair of Whisper’s eQ250 propulsors, each capable of up to 80 lbs. of thrust. The Ultralight has a wingspan of over 40 ft with a maximum L/D of 35:1 and can be stressed to a design loading of +6/-4g, making it capable of some pretty impressive acrobatic feats.

The Swift3 glider is designed for a low speed, low power cruising speed of 45–55 knots with “just” 6.5 hp. Power-off glides from a few hundred feet showed a low sink rate, and a climb rate of 1,250 ft/min with full self-launching power (in other words: the Whisper glider doesn’t have to be towed by a launch vehicle, like a conventional ultralight glider).

Quiet cool

Dual WhisperDrive fans deliver ~160 lbf of thrust; via Whisper Aero.

Range under full power is about 109 miles with current battery tech, but it’s expected that range under the latest EPiC 2.0 energy batteries would rise to nearly 170 miles.

Nathan Millecam, CEO of Electric Power System, said, “EPiC 2.0’s leap in energy density and thermal performance has enabled a significant increase in range, a clear validation of our next-gen cell technology. We are impressed by what the Whisper team continues to achieve in advancing electric aviation.”

The press release concludes explaining that flight tests are expected to show that the Whisper Aero glider can be flown, “a few hundred feet away from neighborhoods without any disturbances, while carrying a 220 lbs. payload with full range,” which is all kind of ominous in today’s political climate, but still pretty neat from a purely tech perspective.

The TNGO grant follows a separate grant from NASA awarded last year, though that grant aims to develop the eQ250s – not as a propulsion system, but as a key component in future spacecraft ventilation systems.

Tennessee Tech announces TNGO grant

With support from TNECD’s Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) initiative, Tennessee Tech University and Whisper Aero are partnering to advance next-generation propulsion technology in the aerospace industry. This collaboration will enhance aerospace research and workforce development, ensuring Tennessee remains a leader in cutting-edge mobility solutions.

TNECD

SOURCE | IMAGES: TNECD; via eVTOL Insights, New Atlas.

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