With both Airbus and Boeing working on hybrid engine projects, and Norway calling for all-electric short-haul flights in the not-too-distant future, it looks as if the time is nearing for a 'Prius of the Air.'
The change to hybrid gas/electric engines or even all-electrics would be a major change in aircraft technology, perhaps comparable to the transition from propellor-driven planes to jets. Even recent investments in bio-based or synthetic jet fuels don't require a wholesale technology shift.
Norway's public airport operator, Avinor, is putting out a tender offer for a company willing to test a commercial route with a small electric plane with about 19 seats and a goal of flying by 2025. Avinor chief Dag Falk-Petersen believes that all-electric is feasible for all flights up to an hour and a half.
Norway, despite being Europe's biggest oil producer, is also its biggest advocate of green energy and electric vehicles. Last year, more than half its new-car registrations were for either hybrid or all-electric vehicles.
On the major manufacturer side, Airbus has teamed up with engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and Siemens to work on hybrid propulsion for larger airliners, and Boeing has partnered with start-up Zunum to work on an all-electric plane. Both projects are aimed at having commercially viable regional jets, in the 50-100 seat range, flying by around 2030.
As has happened before, the two giants are on different tracks, although with a long-enough timeframe that could change. One is for a hybrid craft, the other is aimed at an all-electric airliner.
Airbus's project is aimed at a test flight by 2020, replacing one of the four turbofan engines on a BAe146 with a 2-megawatt electric motor on the way to a hybrid powerplant. It expects to have a viable commercial hybrid jetliner by the 2030s, possibly in the size class just below the A320 line.
The BAe146, built between 1983 and 2002, is a 70-100 seat plane with four small turbofan engines. It was designed with noise abatement and short runways in mind, and makes a natural choice for partial engine swapouts.
Boeing's partner, Zunum, is working on an all-electric craft, and aims at flying a 10-12 seat plane by 2022, with the possibility to scale up to the 50-100 seat range by 2030. It's counting on continuing rapid increases in battery efficiency: the main issue with all-electric flight has been battery weight. But auto industry demands and applications for home power have been driving research that is yielding much better ratios, so the goal may not be far out of sight.
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