Electric

Rolls-Royce has begun ground testing a hybrid propulsion system using its M250 gas turbine engine for helicopters that the company says will clear the way for experimental flights on aircraft within two years. The company said it successfully tested the hybrid-electric version of the M250 gas turbine in a ground demonstration setting using three operating […]

Faradair, a startup aircraft maker based in the UK, launched an 18-seat hybrid-propulsion aircraft it hopes to fly by 2022 and introduce to the market by 2025. Revealed at the Revolution.Aero Europe 2019 show in London, the so-called Bio Electric Hybrid Aircraft is being developed for passenger operations as well as cargo roles. The concept […]

In a move aimed at expanding the limitations of electric flight, aerospace giant Airbus has announced a partnership with Air Race E, the world’s first electric airplane race set to launch its inaugural series in 2020. Airbus is the official founding partner of Air Race E, a competition that “aims to drive the development and […]

Rolls-Royce is leading a research project known as Accelerating the Electrification of Flight (ACCEL) to explore the use of a high-power electrical system in a demonstrator aircraft. The goal is to build and fly the world’s fastest electric-powered airplane. Partly funded by the UK government, Rolls-Royce is working with YASA, a manufacturer of high-power, lightweight […]

Traffic-hopping eVTOL air taxis are all the rage at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas, with Bell stealing headlines by unveiling the 6,000-pound Nexus, a hybrid-propulsion ducted-rotor aircraft boasting a projected 150-mile range, a top speed of 150 mph, expansive windows and an “augmented reality enhanced” flight experience. The company formerly known […]

Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH in collaboration with Siemens AG has flown a multi-engine hybrid-electric aircraft at Diamond’s headquarters in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, a milestone that the lightplane manufacturer says will help keep the future of flying sustainable. Diamond’s aim is to develop “highly efficient” hybrid drive systems that will contribute to a dramatic reduction in […]

Hartzell Propeller announced it has entered into a partnership with Eviation to produce customized propellers to drive the company’s electric commuter, an 11-seat airplane called Alice, currently in the development phase. The airplane will be powered solely by electricity stored in high-energy density batteries with motors spinning three five-blade carbon fiber pusher propellers approximately 65 […]

In a setback for the development of electric propulsion systems for general aviation aircraft, one of the few all-electric airplanes in the world crashed in Hungary last week, killing its two occupants. The Magnus eFusion two-seat prototype, powered by a Siemens electric motor, crashed near Budapest after witnesses said the airplane caught on fire. The […]

Just mention the name DeLorean and even today most people will conjure a vision of Doc Brown’s sleek, gull-winged car from Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 film Back to the Future. There was a time when that might have been enough recognition for DeLorean, but no longer. With the recent unveiling of the DeLorean Aerospace’s DR-7, it’s […]

Airbus caused a stir two years ago by announcing an ambitious plan to build a hybrid-electric four-seater for the U.S. light plane market dubbed the E-Fan 4.0, plus a smaller two-seat all-electric trainer called the E-Fan 2.0, both of which the company predicted would enter production before the decade was out. That idea has faded […]