Swedish startup Heart Aerospace has successfully tested its all-electric X1 aircraft, making it the world’s largest all-electric aircraft. The tests confirmed the economic feasibility of replacing conventional fuels with batteries on regional flights and attracted the attention of United Airlines and Air Canada.
Image source: Xin Hangyu
according to enjetX1 took off from Plattsburgh International Airport in New York State, flew in the air for 27 minutes, and rose to an altitude of approximately 335 meters. The aircraft uses only battery power during the entire flight, including takeoff and landing. According to engineers, the energy cost of the entire test flight is less than $5.
The next phase of the program is supposed to be the ES-30, a 30-seat regional aircraft equipped with a hybrid power plant. Heart Aerospace believes it will be able to run entirely on battery power with a range of up to 200 kilometers, while a hybrid design could increase the range to around 800 kilometers. In the future, such aircraft may become an alternative to gas turbine-powered passenger aircraft on short-haul routes.
At the same time, fuel savings should be just one of the reasons for lowering the ES-30’s running costs. Heart Aerospace also expects electric motors to be less expensive to maintain and potentially more reliable. It is also possible for aircraft to operate completely autonomously in the future.
Heart Aerospace plans to have the ES-30 in service by 2031, but the project must go through several development and testing phases before then. The company’s competitors include Boom Supersonic, Harbor Air, ZeroAvia and Rolls-Royce. As Engadget points out, in any case, the future of electric aviation depends on batteries becoming more energy-dense and lighter than their current counterparts.
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