Melbourne aviation startup Kite Magnetics has unveiled its 120 kW air-cooled electric motor, the world’s most powerful for aircraft, at the Avalon Air Show.

The lightweight motor, made from a unique new magnetic material called Aeroperm, is more powerful than a small car engine, but weighs only as much as a full suitcase.

Kite Magnetics emerged from Monash University five months ago and raised $1.85 million last October in a Seed round led by Investible through its new climate technology fund, backed by Breakthrough Victoria, Galileo and Possible Ventures.

Founder and CEO Dr. Richard Parsons said his small team of young engineers has developed an electric motor for a new generation of all-electric aircraft to stay aloft longer and reduce carbon emissions in the notoriously carbon-heavy sector.

“We are excited to launch not only the world’s most powerful air-cooled electric motor for electric aircraft, but also the first commercially available electric motor to use this new type of magnetic material,” he said.

The Kite Magnetics 120kW KM-120 electric motor

“With our Aeroperm technology for magnetic materials, we can reduce energy waste in electric motor components by more than 10 times. This means that we can use air cooling even at very high power levels. This makes our engines simpler, more reliable and extremely lightweight.”

They are accepting orders and expect to begin shipping to existing customers within the next year.

Dr. Parsons said he is “extremely proud” of what his team has developed in a short period of time.

“It is a real testament to the quality of engineering talent here in Melbourne and shows that we have what it takes to build a world-class electric propulsion OEM here in Australia,” he said.

“Using Kite Magnetics’ electric motor technology, we could be boarding a zero-emission electric aircraft in years, not decades.”

The Avalon 2023 Australian International Air Show will take place from February 28 to March 5 in Geelong, Victoria.