Electric

The Airbus E-Fan 1.2, a new version of the aerospace giant’s vision for the future of general aviation flight, will make its U.S. debut next week at EAA AirVenture, highlighting a brand-new hybrid-electric propulsion system pioneered for the project with partner Siemens. This latest version of E-Fan features a gasoline engine that greatly extends the […]

The thought of an Extra 300 tearing up the sky in near total silence is unfathomable to aerobatic fans expecting a routine that’s part gyrating airplane and part roaring piston engine. But that was in the old days, before Siemens announced in April it was planning to hitch its new 260 kw electric motor to […]

Charles Bolden says now is the right time to take a serious look at a distributed electric aircraft that, if successful, will create advanced technologies to reduce fuel burn, emissions and aircraft noise. Bolden is administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA’s new X-57 project, nicknamed “Maxwell,” will be the agency’s first dedicated […]

This week, Aero Electric Aircraft Corp. (AEAC) unveiled the first proof-of-concept prototype of its Sun Flyer aircraft, a solar-electric general aviation flight trainer, at a rollout event at Centennial Airport in Denver. AEAC CEO and founder George Bye says the POC prototype will be used to finalize the Sun Flyer’s design, the first of many […]

From Hungary coming yet another electric airplane, this one manufactured by Magnus Aircraft Corp. The company’s eFusion is a two-seat, side-by-side airplane with fixed landing gear. Magnus Aircraft unveiled the eFusion at AERO Friedrichshafen in Germany, noting that the new model is powered by a Siemens 60 kW electric motor with 85 kW max output. […]

Extra Aircraft unveiled a wild aerobatic testbed for Siemens’ new SP260D electric propulsion system at AERO Friedrichshafen in Germany that could be a harbinger of the future of emission-free airshow performances. The 330LE is based on the German-built Walter Extra 300L tandem two-seater. Siemens intends to use the 330LE for flight test and optimization of […]

A new hybrid electric motor developed through a project named Hypstair has the potential to make a breakthrough in emission-free propulsion in aviation. The motor is being tested on a Pipistrel airplane and was recently powered up for the first time at the factory in Ajdovscina, Slovenia. Hypstair claims its 200 kW motor is the […]

Solar Impulse, a Swiss-designed aircraft, made its first flight last week. Its developers hope to eventually fly the Solar Impulse around the world, but for now are satisfied with a “flea hop” of around 1,150 feet at an altitude of about three feet. Still, their first flight traveled almost 10 times as far as the […]

At this year’s EAA Airventure, there was just a whiff, or lack thereof, of change in the air, as a small bevy of electric airplanes made an appearance on the AirVenture stage. And there were a few such creatures flying at the show, including the first electric two-seater to go airborne at Oshkosh. The e-plane […]

The Yuneec E430 electric light sport airplane has made an appearance at EAA AirVenture, and is scheduled to fly for the crowd at least once before the end of the show this weekend. Built in China and shipped to the U.S. last week, the two-place high-wing composite aircraft is powered by a 40 kilowatt (approximately […]