Rolls-Royce Holding PLC (LON:RR.), Airbus and Siemens have joined forces to develop a hybrid electric engine for a passenger plane.
The E-Fan X project aims to replace one of four gas turbine engines on a short-haul airliner with the motor for a test flight by 2020. A second gas turbine motor will be replaced if successful.
“We see hybrid-electric propulsion as a compelling technology for the future of aviation," said Paul Eremenko, Airbus' chief technology officer, in a press release Tuesday.
Airbus will be responsible for the control architecture of the hybrid-electric propulsion system and batteries as well as its integration with flight controls. Rolls-Royce will be in charge of the turbo shaft engine and 2 megawatt generator and Siemens will deliver the electric motor.
In 2015 Airbus flew a single-seater electric plane, the E-Fan, across the Channel but the passenger jet will require more than 30 times the power.
The three companies are in talks with the UK government to provide funds for the project, which will pave the way to make commercial air travel run partly on electricity. The project could cost hundreds of millions of pounds.
The government is already investing in the UK electric car market to cut air pollution. Last week Chancellor Philip Hammond announced £400mln for electric car charging infrastructure in an effort to meet a ban on petrol and diesel car sales in Britain by 2040.
Paul Stein, the Rolls-Royce chief technology officer, said: “Aviation has been the last frontier in the electrification of transport, and slow to catch up. This will be a new era of aviation.”
Another US company, Zunum Aero, a start-up based in Seattle and backed by Boeing, is building a 12-seater hybrid electric plane and expects it to be ready by 2022. The firm said the plane will seat up to 12 people, fly up to 700 miles and have operating costs of 8 cents per seat mile.