Electrification of Aircraft: Challenges, Barriers, and Potential Impacts

Design, build, test and flight of the world's fastest electric aircraft

“…A study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory showing the potential trajectory of full electric aircraft development forecast that, up to 2025, the current technology allows the electrification of mainly: pilot training aircraft, like the Pipistrel Velis Electro described in the previous section, with possible personal and business aircraft up to 6 passengers and limited flight time. [26] To get to regional commuter, air taxi and eVTOL up to 5 passengers (including the pilot), light air cargo and regional passengers up to 15 passengers, the projection from the study indicates 2040. While a commercial aircraft with 186 seats has a target of 2050.…”

“…Discharge rates however do currently meet eVTOL & Electric Conventional Take‐off and Landing (eCTOL) requirements as proven by the ACCEL project, however, not at the high gravimetric energy densities required for commercially viable flight. [26] Unfortunately, the mutually exclusive design of ‘power’ and ‘energy’ cells ensures that the required high power capable cells will have lagging energy densities behind the market leading values. [27] Ensuring the aircraft can operate and generate a profit is likely to be highly limited by the rate at which the ESS cells are aged from such intense charge and discharge profiles of up to 15 times per day.…”

A Roadmap Toward a Sustainable Aviation Ecosystem

“…If the energy density and/or weight of batteries is improved while maintaining safety, range can be greatly extended. Capital cost reductions, along with safety and range matching, will be important given that anticipated operating expenses, particularly energy, are anticipated to be economically attractive (Schwab et al 2021). Additional challenges include charging standards and standardization of energy transfer rates, power electronics, charging cable management, inductive vs. conductive charging, new safety and emergency response standards, cyber protections, and energy transfer from the component to the grid level.…”

Sustainable Aviation Electrification: A Comprehensive Review of Electric Propulsion System Architectures, Energy Management, and Control

“…Furthermore, the global aviation demand is anticipated to grow at around 4.8% annually [1]. By the year 2050, a greater than 60% increase in global commercial air travel seat miles and a 38% increase in energy use are projected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, with corresponding CO 2 emissions projections of 209 million metric tons CO 2 e [2]. Thus, it is critical to reduce the environmental footprint of the aviation sector, and the civil aviation sector plays an increasingly significant role in transportation sustainability in the environmental, economic, and social dimensions.…”