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Bulge-bellied hybrid-electric airliner to debut in 2028

By Ben Coxworth
July 29, 2024
Bulge-bellied hybrid-electric airliner to debut in 2028
A rendering of Heart Aerospace's ES-30, showing off its distinctive underside-located battery compartment
A rendering of Heart Aerospace's ES-30, showing off its distinctive underside-located battery compartment
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Plans call for the ES-30 to be in use by 20
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Plans call for the ES-30 to be in use by 2028
This X-ray image of an earlier version of the ES-30 shows the placement of the aircraft's batteries
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This X-ray image of an earlier version of the ES-30 shows the placement of the aircraft's batteries
A rendering of Heart Aerospace's ES-30, showing off its distinctive underside-located battery compartment
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A rendering of Heart Aerospace's ES-30, showing off its distinctive underside-located battery compartment
View gallery - 3 images

Travelers could be making all-electric airline flights as soon as 2028. That's when Heart Aerospace's well-funded hybrid-drive ES-30 is planned to enter service, with a projected battery range of 200 km (124 miles) – or much farther in extended-range mode.

We first heard about Swedish startup Heart Aerospace back in 2021, when the company announced development of its 19-passenger all-electric short-range airliner, the ES-19. That design subsequently morphed into the 30-passenger ES-30, which features a "reserve-hybrid" configuration.

In a nutshell, this means that for flights of up to 200 km (124 miles), the aircraft just uses two electric motors located relatively close in to the fuselage on each wing. For going farther – up to 400 km (249 miles) – two small turboprop engines located farther out on the wings kick in to extend the aircraft's range. When the turboprops aren't in use, their propeller blades are angled to lie parallel to the air flow for better aerodynamics.

One charge of the BAE-Systems-designed batteries reportedly takes just 30 minutes.

Plans call for the ES-30 to be in service four years from now
Plans call for the ES-30 to be in service four years from now

As is the case with other electric airliners, the ES-30 is promised to produce fewer carbon emissions than traditional combustion-engine planes, while also reducing operating costs and maintenance requirements.

It will reportedly also be much quieter than its fuel-guzzling counterparts, plus because its electric motors quickly deliver maximum torque, it will be able to take off from runways as short as 1,100 m (3,609 ft) ... with its turboprops helping. With these attributes in mind, the aircraft should be capable of taking off and landing at airstrips in small, currently underserved communities, and at neighborhood "pocket airports" in larger cities.

A number of corporate clients are apparently sold on the concept, as Heart Aerospace has so far raised US$145 million in development funding from high-profile partners such as United Airlines, Air Canada, Saab, the European Investment Council, and Mesa Air Group. The company currently has firm orders for 250 of the aircraft, along with purchase rights for an additional 120 planes, and letters of intent for another 191 on top of that.

The opening of a Los-Angeles-based research and development center was announced this May.

Source: Heart Aerospace

UPDATE (Aug. 1/24): Heart Aerospace has informed us that in the latest design of the ES-30, the batteries have been moved to the rear end of the fuselage.

View gallery - 3 images

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AircraftElectric AircraftEnvironmentally-friendlyTravelHybrid
17 comments
Ben Coxworth
Ben Coxworth
Based out of Edmonton, Canada, Ben Coxworth has been writing for New Atlas since 2009 and is presently Managing Editor for North America. An experienced freelance writer, he previously obtained an English BA from the University of Saskatchewan, then spent over 20 years working in various markets as a television reporter, producer and news videographer. Ben is particularly interested in scientific innovation, human-powered transportation, and the marine environment.

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17 comments
Towerman
Electric aircraft is going to take the world by storm soon enough, revolutionising the industry Entirely ! The sooner they prepare for its coming the easier the transition will be.

Technicians working on these machines are also in for an exciting new dawn that is about to unfold !
Towerman
It is best airliners start working on the infrastructure now and implement small scale electric transport asap to start prepare them for the Electric Revolution soon to unfold.
paul314
In countries with well-constructed rail networks, you probably wouldn't need planes like this. But as rail get short-changed and roads get saturated, this might be the only transport mode for fast travel.
Nobody
There will be nothing like a belly landing on lithium batteries.
pete-y
Looks a great design - especially its STOL capability. Also two gen modes gives flexibility to move to hydrogen if the tech ever develops.
Company to watch that seems to have all the right backers.
pete-y
US owned company with Nordic links.
The outer engines are conventional turbo-props with the inner electric.
First flight scheduled for next year in US without pilots.
michael_dowling
Zeroavia has flown several hydrogen-electric prototypes,which provide ranges similar to what turboprops running on fossil fuels achieve. One recent test flight was over 500 miles. The question remains as to how to generate sufficient H2 at airports for refueling fuel cell aircraft at a competitive price.
MacL
There'll be nothing like landing in a plane with failed landing gears on a belly full of Lithium thermal runaway on a runway!
PB
With 124 miles of range it can't even fly LAX to SFO. I assume / hope that includes IFR reserves, meaning that it must be able to fly to the top of descent of its destination, then fly to an alternate, plus 45 minutes of fuel/energy reserve.
I assume that the battery pack is changeable ---- that the aircraft will fly to a destination and exchange the battery pack rather than having to wait on the ground for a recharge?
It sounds like a hybrid with two kerosine powered out turboprops and two inboard electric motors. It must be a heavy aircraft.
I'm skeptical.
gybognarjr
All of the articles about these new electric, hybrid, hydrogen vehicles, especially airplanes are only illustrating the good and beneficial half of their capabilities. For a decade or more, overall, they are producing CO2 and pollution, the same amount or more as the traditional fossil fuel vehicles. They produce it at different locations, not where they are operating. Designing work, testing, manufacturing, and operating them, including the labor force for every phase, obtaining including raw materials, transporting and refining them, requires lots of EXTRA energy, produces EXTA pollution and the benefits take many years to get to the break even point. Prime example are. the electric cars, their environmental benefits could come 10-12 years from now, when the break even point happens. The media hype gives a drastically distorted view, a comprehensive brainwash to the generations living today, that we can enjoy the benefits of green energy and electrification in our lives right now, while the switch is happening. Just the opposite, we are suffering more for at least another decade to switch over to predominantly electricity use, that future generations will get the benefit of. I am sure most of us have no problem with this, but the politicians, together with the media should not tell us lies, the majority of the population is mature enough to handle the truth.
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