Airbus to Fly Hybrid-Electric Test Aircraft by 2020
November 28 2017 - 5:24AM
Dow Jones News
By Robert Wall
LONDON- Europe's top engineering companies Airbus SE (AIR.FR),
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (RR.LN) and Siemens AG (SIE.XE) plan to
fly a hybrid-electric airliner in three years in what it turning
into a race with Boeing Co. (BA) over who can first showcase the
benefits of small electric passenger planes.
The three European companies plan to modify a BAe 146 regional
airliner with a hybrid-electric propulsion system to take flight in
2020. "It is an aggressive target," Airbus Head of Flight
Demonstrators Mark Cousin said Tuesday.
Ticket-buying customers could be flying on a regional plane
seating around 100 passengers in 2030, Rolls-Royce Chief Technology
Officer Paul Stein said.
Boeing, through its HorizonX venture capital arm, in April
announced an investment inZunum Aero, a Kirkland, Wash, firm
developing electric aircraft propulsion systems. JetBlue Airways
Corp., with its own venture capital arm also has taken a stake.
Zunum Aero's initial design will be for a plane seating up to 12
passengers. The company hopes it will enter service in 2022.
Boeing last month also said it plans to acquire Aurora Flight
Sciences Corp., deepening its reach into electric-powered
aircraft.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration last year
started an experimental electric plane concept, designated the
X-57.
Boeing, the world's largest plane maker by deliveries, and its
nearest rival Airbus, dominate the market for passenger planes
seating more than 150 passengers. Those planes have been in the
crosshairs of environmental groups for their fuel burn, spurring
the interest of plane makers for alternative, cleaner power
sources. Fuel is also one of the biggest costs for airlines.
The technology concepts now on the drawing board are modest
compared with the jetliners most airlines operate. Still, Mr.
Cousins said "there are a number of airlines who are very
interested in the development of this technology." British budget
airline easyJet PLC this year signaled it could be interested in an
electric plane concept.
Eventually, the goal is to introduce the technology also into
the single-aisle and widebody planes most commonly used by the
world's airlines, Mr. Stein said.
Airbus in 2015 demonstrated a prototype electric plane in an
English Channel crossing. It abandoned to build a family of small,
electric planes seating fewer than five people to instead focus on
the larger design.
With the new E-Fan X, Mr. Cousin said, "the objective of this is
not to produce a product but to mature technology." A production
design would yield double-digit fuel burn savings and also cut
noise and other pollutants.
Each company will contribute several million dollars to fund the
effort. The group also is seeking U.K. government financial
backing.
The companies decided to modify the existing four-engine plane
design in part for safety reasons. Only one of the engines will
initially be replaced with the hybrid-electric design. The engine
will be replaced by a two megawatt electric motor powered by an
existing aircraft engine. The aircraft will also feature a battery
to deliver a power boost for extra power during takeoff.
"There are no fundamental technology blockers," Mr. Cousin said.
The target now is to make that equipment light enough to put on a
plane.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 28, 2017 05:09 ET (10:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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