The World’s Largest Electric Aircraft Just Flew
In a Nutshell
Hart Aerospace's ES-19 is the world's largest electric aircraft to fly—a 100-foot wingspan, 36-seat regional airliner that costs $5 to charge and operates at 33-48% better economics than 40-year-old turboprops. The core advantage is replacing complex jet engines with simple electric motors plus a hybrid turboprop backup, enabling 125 miles electric-only or 500 miles hybrid while using existing 5,000 US airports. The company raised capital by showing physical hardware (400 kW motors) rather than slides, built most components in-house for rapid iteration, and targets the massive short-haul market where half of all flights are under 2 hours.
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This is the largest electric airplane ever to fly. It's got a 100 foot wingspan, a takeoff weight of 25,000 lb, and the electricity to get it off the ground cost just $5. Its successor, the ES30, will fly up to 125 mi on battery alone, up to 500 mi as a hybrid, and recharge in about 30 minutes. It's the world's largest electric aircraft by about a factor of two. It's the first clean sheet airliner to be flown in any category, electric or not, in the US in the last 18 years.
This is Andrew Porcel. He's the CEO of Hart Aerospace. Seven years ago, Andrew showed a 3D printed model that could be held in hand. The transition from a toy model to a 100 foot wingspan aircraft occurred through seven years of development.
Andrew Porcel visited Hart Aerospace's headquarters in LA. The team has grown from Anders and co-founder Clara and a 3D printed model to a 40 person team in LA building a real airliner. The mission is to build hybrid electric aircraft to reduce the cost of air travel.
Electric motors have one moving part compared to jet engines with thousands of parts. The motors produce constant torque profile and can spin at one-tenth the speed of jet engines. Electric motors are virtually silent at 100 ft away and have zero wear since they lack combustion or fluids.
The power source consists of eight battery packs laid across the floor of the plane, equivalent to about four Teslas carrying $40 worth of fuel.
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