Aviation’s all-electric regional jet, Alice, completed its first test flight in September 2022.
Weight is the enemy of flight. This is a headache for the airline industry, which must contend with regulatory and political pressure to slash its bloated carbon footprint.
Electric aircraft help reduce carbon emissions and reduce energy and maintenance costs. Battery-powered long-range airliners aren’t possible with current technology, but many companies are working on short- and medium-range electric aircraft.
According to market research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global market for electric aircraft will reach an estimated $7.9 billion in 2021. Projected to reach $27.7 billion in 2030, manufacturing the batteries that power those planes will be a $1 billion market by 2030. It is said that there is a possibility.
The companies listed below are poised to lead this market, developing not only bigger batteries and better chemistries, but also critical infrastructure such as aircraft-sized electric motors. Others are building hybrid airplanes, designing electric aircraft to enable low-emission air travel, and highlighting promising aircraft manufacturers and aircraft modders in this emerging field.
1. Electric Power Systems
CEO:Nathan Millecam
Head office location:North Logan, Utah
NASA’s experimental X-57 Maxwell, which is trying to prove the feasibility of electric aircraft, uses Epic batteries made by Electric Power Systems. The company is developing three modules, the most energy-dense of which, called Energy, has a power density of 205W/h per kg and was developed to power small aircraft. .
And Colorado-based startup Bye Aerospace uses Electric Power Systems batteries in its small electric planes for flight training and other purposes. Two low-end batteries from Electric have enough electrons to power a hybrid airplane or an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle.
2. MagniX
CEO:Richard Chandler
Head office location:Everett, Washington
Headquartered in Washington and wholly owned by Singapore’s Clermont Group, Magnix is providing battery propulsion to older smaller aircraft such as Cessna for start-ups such as Harbor Air and Eviation. We are remodeling to install the platform.
NASA has set up a $253 million grant called the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration, which aims to mature electric flight technology through ground and in-flight research. Magnix and GE Aviation are the recipients of the grant.
3. Cuberg
CEO:Richard Wang
Head office location:San Leandro, California
Kuberg, which is owned by Northvolt, a major Swedish energy company that manufactures lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, is developing next-generation battery technology that can withstand long-distance electric flights.
Kuberg’s battery technology employs silicon or lithium metal for the anode, the electrode through which current flows from an external circuit. To overcome the challenges of manufacturing batteries using these, it has raised funds from the US military, the Department of Energy, Boeing and others.
The battery could potentially achieve energy densities unattainable with current lithium-ion batteries and the graphite anodes commonly used in them. In July 2022, it announced that this lithium metal technology had been tested and proved a capacity of 380Wh/kg.
4. Eviation
CEO:Gregory Davis
Head office location: Tel Aviv (Israel)
Of the many startups aiming to bring futuristic electric aircraft to life, Eviation is perhaps the most successful. The company’s nine-passenger, all-electric regional jet, Alice, completed its first test flight in September 2022, briefly reaching a top speed of 171 mph and an altitude of 3,500 feet.
The plane, which uses Magnix motors and AVL batteries, was a hit at the 2019 Paris Air Show. What Eviation describes as “a giant battery with a picture of an airplane on it,” the plane requires over 8,000 pounds of batteries. The company’s goal of flying hundreds of miles on electricity alone will require even more efficient lithium-ion batteries.
5. Wright Electric
CEO:Jeffrey Engler
Head office location:Albany, New York
Named after the aviation pioneers, the Wright Brothers, Wright Electric has ambitious goals that go beyond electrifying small planes. The company, founded in 2016, is developing the platform needed to build a 100-passenger airliner capable of flying for up to an hour.
Since 2017, it has been working with discount carrier Easyjet. EasyJet is keen to cut costs by replacing short-haul flights in Europe with hybrid planes and all-electric propulsion.
NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and others have invested in Wright, and have shown interest in building generators using Wright’s giant megawatt-scale motors.
6. Ampere
CEO:Kevin Noertker
Head office location:Hawthorne, California
Hybrid cars can enjoy the merits of electric vehicles while eliminating the disadvantages unique to electric vehicles such as long charging time and short cruising range. The same applies to aviation.
Ampere is a company that specializes in converting small, older planes into hybrid aircraft that use less fuel than they used to. The company’s electric EEL is a Cessna 337 Skymaster retrofitted with a parallel hybrid powertrain. It has been tested in 2019 and has also been tested with smaller airlines.
The company will participate in NASA’s next project to electrify the DHC6 Twin Otter DHC6 small airliner, reducing noise by up to 32 decibels, reducing fuel consumption by up to 50% and emissions by up to 75%. have a contract.
[Original: 6 top battery players vying to power the $27.7 billion electric-airplane business]
(Edited by Sayuri Daimon)
Source: BusinessInsider
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