Dutch startup company Elysian Aircraft has unveiled its plans for a new battery-electric regional aircraft, the E9X, with an unusually wide wingspan approximately akin to the A320’s.
“This aircraft, designed for regional routes, showcases the potential of battery-electric aviation as a scalable and economically viable option” highlights Elysian, who hope the E9X will be flying from 2033. The clean-sheet aircraft is optimised for transporting 90 passengers over distances of up to 800 km.
The conceptual distributed electric propulsion design (presented following a collaboration with Delt University of Technology) features a low-wing configuration with foldable wingtips. Batteries mounted into the wing will provide an energy density of 360Wh/kg and will power a series of eight 1.5 megawatt wing-mounted electric motors. A conventionally powered turbogenerator in the very rear of the fuselage will recharge the batteries and power the motors in the event of the aircraft being diverted or delayed.
Elysian is backed by aerospace investment company Panta Holdings.