Three of the top aviation engine engineering firms in the world — Airbus, Siemens, and Rolls-Royce — are now collaborating on the development of a hybrid electric aircraft engine, the companies have jointly revealed.
The new program — which has been dubbed E-Fan X — comes as competition in the sector to be the first to market with an electrified plane has begun intensifying. The new collaboration aims to fly a demonstrator aircraft in 2020 after ground tests have concluded. The new hybrid electric aircraft engine will, provisionally, be demonstrated in a BAe 146 aircraft.
“We see hydro-electric propulsion as a compelling technology for the future of aviation,” commented Airbus Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Paul Eremenko in a public statement.
Reuters provides more: “Airbus will be responsible for the control architecture of the hybrid-electric propulsion system and batteries, and its integration with flight controls. Rolls-Royce will be responsible for the turbo shaft engine and 2 megawatt (MW) generator, while Siemens will deliver the 2 MW electric motor.”
This news follows pretty closely on the announcement by a Seattle (US) area aviation startup to bring a small hybrid-electric commuter aircraft to commercial readiness by 2022. That startup is backed by both the venture capital arm of Boeing and also that of JetBlue Airways. (For more information on that, see: More Launch Details About Zunum Aero Electric Hybrid Planes.)
Presumably, the new public announcement of a partnership between Airbus, Siemens, and Rolls-Royce aiming for a demonstration of new tech by 2020 is related to this earlier announcement.
Of course, we’ve had a lot of stories about electric airplanes this year. Here are some of the recent and hot ones:
Cool Airbus Vahana Project Is Ready For Flight Testing
The Pipistrel Alpha Electro, An Awesome 2-Seat Electric Trainer
Electric Sun Flyer 4 Goes From Two To Four Seats
EViation Aims To Propel Electric Aviation Forward
Electric Plane Using Siemens Motor Sets 2 New Speed Records
Airbus Is Working On An Autonomous Flying Taxi
NASA’s X-57 (Maxwell) Experimental Electric Airplane
easyJet To Pilot Hydrogen Electric Aircraft Taxiing
Flying Car Overview from CleanTechnica — 9 Personal Flying Vehicles
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
