Commercial aviation is struggling to reduce its climate impact and it’s currently not on track to meet its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Sustainable aviation fuel is not being produced fast enough and there seem to be few alternatives on the horizon to fuel-hungry jet engines and turboprops.
One problem is that electrification is not as easy with planes as it is with road vehicles, and the consensus in the industry seems to be that battery technology needs to evolve before electric passenger aircraft can become a reality.
However, Dutch startup Elysian is challenging that assumption with its plans for a fully electric regional aircraft, with a range of 500 miles (805 kilometers) and space for 90 passengers, capable of reducing emissions by 90% — which it aims to fly commercially within a decade.
“Many experts say you need battery technology beyond [anything that will be available until] 2050 to get reasonable range and payload capability,” says Reynard de Vries, director of design and engineering at Elysian. “But the question we asked ourselves was, ‘how do I get the maximum range for the battery technology that we already have?’ One can fly much farther with battery-powered electric aircraft than what most studies claim — if you make the right choices.”
Unconventional design
The plane, called E9X, exists only on paper for now — Elysian plans to build a scale model within two to three years, and a full-scale prototype by 2030. However, its main design features are already known, and are somewhat surprising. “You shouldn’t assume that an electric plane is going to look like the (most successful) planes of today,” de Vries says, adding that a common misconception is that electric planes should essentially be electrified versions of the lightest regional turboprops.
That, he says, would make the range too limited, likely below 60 miles. “What you really have to do is design it from scratch, starting with a blank sheet. What you end up with is a plane that in weight proportions, for example, looks much more like old 1960s jets. A plane with a very high proportion of batteries and a much lower proportion of structural weight. The result is an aircraft that’s much larger and heavier, but can fly much farther than people previously thought.”
The E9X will have eight propeller engines and a wingspan of almost 138 feet (42 meters) — larger than a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320, though both can carry more than double the passengers — as well as a thinner fuselage, which de Vries says improves both the structural and aerodynamic characteristics.
This design is the result of a collaboration with the Delft University of Technology, the oldest and largest technical university in the Netherlands, and its principles are explained in a scientific paper titled “A new perspective on battery-electric aviation,” which has de Vries and Rob Wolleswinkel, Elysian’s co-founder, among its authors.
One key tenet is that the batteries will be placed in the wings rather than the fuselage. “That’s a critical design choice,” says de Vries. “Batteries represent a significant chunk of the weight of the plane, and what you want to do with weight is put it where the lift is being generated.”
The battery technology will be similar to what’s available today, plus whatever advancements will be made in the next four or five years, rather than a radical step up, according to de Vries. “That opens up different scenarios,” he adds. “The most conservative one puts the useful range at 300 miles (482 kilometers), but we believe that a more realistic target, four years from now, is 500 miles.”
Ready in 45 minutes
Among the other known design elements is the placement of the landing gear in the wings rather than the body of the plane, wingtips that can fold up to save space and a gas-turbine-based “reserve energy system” that can provide emergency power in case of a diversion.
All together, de Vries expects the aircraft’s climate impact to be between 75% and 90% lower than today’s narrowbody jets, even when accounting for the production of the batteries and the electricity used to recharge them.
The E9X will be designed to fit within current airport infrastructure, without the need for any adjustment or upgrade. The turnaround time, however, might be a challenge due to the need to charge the batteries, which takes more time than filling up the tank with fuel. “Our target right now is a maximum charging time of 45 minutes, which would imply a slightly longer turnaround time than what some airlines are used to, especially the low-cost operators. But that’s the upper limit — the average time will be around half an hour.”
There are ongoing discussions with airlines around the world, he adds, and the plane will likely attract the interest of regional and commuter airlines. According to de Vries, it could also benefit secondary airfields that are currently underserved because of noise or emissions limitations, or because it’s not economical for airlines to serve them.
Finally, from a passenger perspective, he believes the E9X will offer a quieter, more enjoyable flight experience, and he aims to solve one of the most pressing issues with today’s travel: the scarcity of cabin luggage space.
The electric age
Gökçin Çınar, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan who’s collaborating with de Vries on an upcoming research paper on electrified aircraft design, but has no financial stake in Elysian, notes that the company isn’t introducing groundbreaking technologies per se but rather reconfiguring existing ones to redefine the aircraft’s operational paradigm.
“My research over the past decade has advocated for designing electric planes with operational changes in mind — it would be imprudent to employ a novel technology following outdated conventions,” says Çınar. “Although there might be some inconveniences, the potential advantages are significant. Elysian’s approach is promising, but it’s just one of many potential applications of electrification in aviation, each with unique operational strategies and technological integrations.”
Other companies are working on electric aircraft that would enter service earlier than the E9X, according to their plans. One is British-American ZeroAvia, which has successfully test-flown a 19-seater plane powered by two hydrogen-electric engines, and aims to enter it into service in late 2025.
Israeli-founded Eviation has flight-tested its plane, called Alice – a fully electric nine-passenger commuter plane with a range of 250 nautical miles that the company aims to put into service in 2027.
Finally, Swedish manufacturer Heart Aerospace is working on a 30-passenger plane called ES-30 that would have a range of just 100 nautical miles in all-electric configuration, but over 400 when using a combination of electric and traditional turboprop engines; it has only tested a scale model so far, but plans to enter commercial service in 2028.
According to Gary Crichlow, an aviation analyst at consultancy firm AviationValues, Elysian faces a tough challenge. “There are over 5,000 aircraft in service today in the E9X’s size category of 70 to 100 seats,” he says. “Our data shows that these aircraft can remain in service for decades. As a result, it’s very difficult to overstate the incumbency advantage that the established manufacturers have in this market segment.”
Any new technology, Crichlow explains, will have to present a compelling case against an installed, proven conventional fleet. Beyond the technology itself, the infrastructure challenge to provide a steady supply of aircraft, training and parts at scale, and a reliable network of charging facilities, will be enormous.
If Elysian can surmount the technology and infrastructure challenges, he adds, it will then face the commercial challenge of entering a fiercely competitive market. “A disruptor like Elysian would be welcome, but it is an extremely hard mountain to climb for even an established player to produce and support a product that will be commercially viable over the long term,” Crichlow says. “It will need very deep pockets.”