electric aircraft

Soon you can hop on a fully electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the San Fransico Bay area for a quick, cost-effective way of getting around while limiting emissions. United Airlines and Eve Air Mobility revealed plans on Wednesday to launch the first electric commuter flights throughout the Bay Area.

You read that right. An electric flying saucer took flight this week that you can actually “fly around” in. The UFO looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, but this one won’t transport you to another planet.

New Zealand’s first solar-powered electric, stratospheric aircraft was launched using an Audi e-tron S Sportback. The “Kea Atmos Mk1” from Kea Aerospace is designed to collect high-resolution aerial data to monitor the weather, tree health, and pollution, among other agricultural uses.

Swedish electric airplane maker Heart Aerospace is joining forces with BAE Systems to develop a battery system for its ES-30 electric plane.

Leading global airline company United Airlines is set to launch the first electric air taxi route in Chicago in collaboration with Archer Aviation using Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

Leading defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin (LMT) revealed Wednesday a new investment in pioneering electric seaplane maker REGENT to expedite use in defense situations.

Switzerland-based aircraft manufacturer Jekta Switzerland SA is developing an electric passenger hydro aircraft, or seaplane, capable of flying nearly 100 miles on a single charge. The company revealed today it has already secured its first order.

If you’re familiar with Energica, then you probably know all about the company’s high-performance electric motorcycles. They’re some of the fastest, most powerful, and longest-range electric motorcycles in the world. But after developing such an impressive electric powertrain, Energica isn’t stopping with two-wheelers. The company’s tech could soon be taking to the sky inside light electric aircraft.

OK, I get it – it’s not a helicopter. It’s a multirotor. A quadcopter, perhaps? A drone? VTOL? Whatever it is, it’s a piloted flying machine, and you can actually buy one from China. It’s scary. It’s wild. And it’s this week’s entry in the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week.

NASA’s first fully electric plane, the X-57 Maxwell, is gearing up for flight after its cruise motor controllers successfully passed critical testing.

The venture capital arm of the Lockheed Martin Corporation invested in Electra, Inc.’s Series A funding round last week, giving the company’s electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft concept a double injection of cash, and credibility.

Electric flight has progressed in leaps and bounds over the last few years as motors and batteries have become better optimized for flight. And now a team of five electric flight enthusiasts is setting out in the electric Pipistrel Velis Electro plane to show just how far the technology has come.

Two solar airplane aviation companies with stakes in electric urban air mobility (UAM) teamed up to put an unmanned aerial vehicle in the stratosphere for a whole year using only sunlight as energy. Another project aims to reach the edge of space with a solar airplane.

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In a new first for electric flight, researchers at MIT have succeeded in achieving heavier-than-air powered flight using an engine with no moving parts.

The experimental aircraft is paving the way for highly efficient, zero emissions, zero noise, and almost zero maintenance flight.

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Battery technology improvements are expected to soon enable electric flight and companies in the field are preparing their powertrain technology to support it.

In a major move toward that goal, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens have announced a new partnership to gradually convert a plane to electric propulsion. 
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The first electric and VTOL aircraft by Zee.Aero, a startup reportedly heavily funded by Google co-founder Larry Page, is believed to have been spotted at the Hollister Airport in California, where the company has a hangar.
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With quite a few new electric car announcements this week coming from the Paris Motor Show, we thought we’d switch things up a bit and show you all a pretty neat all-electric, “revolutionary and affordable” paramotor aircraft from Revolt in Italy.

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Earlier this year, we wrote a profile on an interesting startup, Zee Aero, developing a battery-powered vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft near Google’s X lab. The company caught our attention when it started hiring talent from NASA, Tesla and Stanford.

At the time, we couldn’t confirm where the money was coming from, but today we learn that Alphabet’s billionaire CEO Larry Page is secretively behind the electric aircraft startup, reportedly financing it with over $100 million, and even setting up a competing startup, Kitty Hawk, to test another model.

The group’s proximity with Google led a lot of people to believe it was financed by the tech giant, but in fact, Page is financing the initiative himself and not through Alphabet or Google Ventures. 
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