Wingcopter eyes hydrogen power for its delivery drone fleet

Wingcopter, a German developer and operator of delivery drones, wants to give its purely electric Wingcopter 198 fleet the power of green hydrogen.

The company has announced a development partnership with Hamburg-based ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research, under which the duo is developing a sustainable, hydrogen-based propulsion system for Wingcopter delivery drones.

Wingcopter 198 is the world’s first drone that can deliver up to three packages at multiple locations during a single flight. The aircraft can carry a maximum of 6 kg on one battery charge of 75 km. And with a lesser payload weight (1 kg), it can travel up to 95 km – no matter the weather conditions.

The triple-drop delivery drone has already made headway to obtaining Type Certification with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US. While in Europe, a prominent user of the service is expected to be retail group REWE, which recently became a major shareholder in the company….