page_title: Pipistrel Taurus
section_title: Variants
hierarchical_section_title: Pipistrel Taurus / Variants
caption_attribution_description: English: The Pipistrel-USA, Taurus G4 aircraft takes off during the 2011 Green Flight Challenge, sponsored by Google, at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. NASA and the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation are having the challenge with the goal to advance technologies in fuel efficiency and reduced emissions with cleaner renewable fuels and electric aircraft.
context_page_description: The Pipistrel Taurus is a Slovenian self-launched two-seat microlight glider designed and built by Pipistrel.
  The Taurus Electro was announced in 2007, and entered into service in 2011, becoming the first electric 2-seat aircraft in serial production available on the market.
context_section_description: Taurus M (Taurus 503)
  Original variant powered by a Rotax 503 pop-up internal combustion engine. Since the discontinuation of the Rotax 503, the model has been marketed as Taurus M, but still equipped with the remaining original engines.
  Taurus PureGlider
  Unpowered variant without engine fitted. It flew for the first time in 2006.
  Taurus Electro
  Variant with a Sinedon 40 hp (30 kW) electric motor replacing the piston engine; first flown in December 2007. Pipistrel claims it was the first two-seat electric aircraft to have ever flown. Two units were produced.
  Taurus Electro G2
  Updated version of the Electro for series production, introduced in 2011. Powered by a 40 kW (54 hp) electric motor and lithium batteries. Powered endurance is 17 minutes, intending to allow for self-launching to an altitude of 2,000 m (6,600 ft), after which the engine is retracted and the aircraft then soars as a sailplane. It is the first two-seat electric aircraft to have achieved series production.
  Taurus G4
  One-off twin fuselage, four seat version, based on the Taurus Electro and acting as an engine development test bed for their forthcoming Panthera four seat hybrid.  It has a 150 kW (201 hp) motor mounted on the central wing section between the fuselages.
  Taurus HY4
  Within the EU-funded Hypstair program over three years till 2016 and followed by Mahepa project from 2017, EU-funded over four years, the dual-fuselage, four-seat, battery-powered G4 received a DLR hydrogen fuel cell powertrain to fly as the HY4 in September 2016, with hydrogen tanks and batteries in the fuselages, fuel cells and motor in the central nacelle. Partners are German motor and inverter developer Compact Dynamics, Ulm University, TU Delft, Politecnico di Milano and University of Maribor. Further Ground and flight tests should come around 2020.
caption: The Taurus G4 taking off from the Sonoma County Airport in California
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