Electric Aircraft

Electra has shown off the extreme takeoff and landing capabilities of its hybrid-electric Short Takeoff and Landing (eSTOL) Ultra Short prototype aircraft to the US Military. The aircraft is designed to operate from areas without proper airfields.

Low-flying ground effect aircraft can deliver zero-emissions coastal transport that goes a lot further and a lot faster than electric boats – without needing FAA certification. So what happens when you add energy-dense hydrogen fuel to the equation?

It was just this July that we heard about the ES-30, a hybrid-electric airliner being developed by Swedish firm Heart Aerospace. Well, the company has now unveiled a full-scale demonstrator version of the plane, which should fly next year.

A remarkably innovative clean passenger aircraft is set to begin full-scale testing this year. Regent's 12-seat Viceroy seaglider hydrofoils through the water, then takes off and rides the wing-in-ground effect for a huge efficiency boost.

Volocopter's plans to trial air taxi passenger flights from a floating platform on the River Seine during the Olympics have been thwarted by bureaucracy. However, the company has managed to kick off the eVTOL operational validation phase.

Since we looked in on aerospace motor startup H3X in 2020, it's gotten its first round of motors out and signed contracts with major players like the US Air Force and NASA. Now it's working to launch bigger, badder megawatt-class machines.

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 battery range of 200 km (124 miles) – or much farther in extended-range mode.

Swiss clean-energy aviation startup JEKTA has announced a partnership with fuel-cell powertrain developer ZeroAvia to extend the flight range and payload capacity of an upcoming electric amphibious passenger aircraft called the PHA-ZE 100.

Eve has unveiled its first full-sized prototype eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) air taxi today during the UK's 45th Farnborough Airshow. It's called the Eve Air Mobility.

Austrian startup FlyNow is opening manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia, after the announcement that "thousands" of its coaxial twin-rotor helicopters will transport visitors at the upcoming World Expo in Riyadh.

In a stunning validation of hydrogen's potential in aircraft, Joby Aviation has made an incredible 523-mile non-stop flight with its S4 eVTOL air taxi. That's more than triple its range on batteries, and an absolute landmark moment for clean aviation.

Chinese battery giant CATL says it's successfully flown a 4-ton plane using its ultra-high density "condensed batteries." It now expects to have an 8-ton electric aircraft with a range of 2,000 to 3,000 km (1,240-1,865 miles) operating in 3-4 years.