Engines have hitherto been something of a sore point at Vertical Aerospace the company had originally had an agreement in place with Rolls-Royce to supply the powerplant for its aircraft but that relationship faltered and ultimately failed when Rolls-Royce withdrew from the electric arena in 2024 with the engine maker agreeing to pay Vertical an undisclosed sum to underwrite the selection of a new engine supplier.
The terms of the agreement call for Evolito will provide its EPU architecture, electric motors and high-integrity DAL-A power electronics, integrated into a single electric engine, and as part of the partnership the two companies plan to jointly certify the EPUs with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), with concurrent validation with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Evolito already holds CAA Design Organisation Approval – a prerequisite for UK type certification and commercial operations.
