Evolito, a privately-owned company that is developing and manufacturing electric motors and powertrains for aerospace applications, has announced that former YASA CEO Dr. Chris Harris will join the company as CEO.

Evolito was spun out from YASA in July 2021. YASA, a developer of axial-flux electric motors and controllers for the automotive sector, was acquired by Mercedes-Benz in August 2021. Evolito will exclusively commercialize YASA’s electric motor technology and IP for the electric aerospace market.

Following 15 years of experience building and leading high-tech businesses in the UK, Europe and the US, Dr. Harris joined YASA in 2012. He scaled the company from 20 employees to more than 300, raising significant investment and winning OEM series production contracts from companies including Ferrari.

Evolito says its axial-flux electric motors are smaller, lighter and more robust than any other competing technology, and are ideal for manned electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) craft as well as electric fixed-wing applications. Following Evolito’s acquisition of UK battery company Electroflight in July 2022, Evolito can now offer aerospace customers fully-electric powertrain solutions, incorporating its axial-flux electric motors, power electronics and batteries.

“Electric flight requires ultra-high-power-density, super-low-weight electric powertrains,” said Dr. Harris. “Evolito provides best-in-class powertrain solutions for OEMs, leveraging next-generation axial-flux electric motor technology that’s already proven in automotive.”

“Evolito is on a mission to electrify the aerospace industry with technology that’s already been proven in the most demanding automotive series production— a tremendous commercial advantage,” said Alexis Zervoglos, Senior Partner, Technology at investor Oxford Science Enterprises. “Under Chris Harris’s leadership, Evolito’s revolutionary electric motors and powertrains will enable electric flight to become a commercial reality in the near future.”

Source: Evolito