VoltAir is a wholly owned subsidiary of

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

which is developing a proposed electrically powered airliner that was publicly announced in 2011. The preliminary concept drawings released at that time showed a low unswept wing on a conventional small-diameter fuselage. A large duct at the fuselage's rear contains two counter-rotating propellers, which would be driven by two large electric motors. Power would be supplied by a lithium-air battery pack mounted in a detachable pod on the lower fuselage nose, where it could be removed and replaced as part of the normal airport turnaround process in passenger-carriage service. Lithium-air batteries rely on oxidation of lithium to produce their current flow. The technology holds the potential of providing much greater energy density than lithium-ion batteries. As part of the development process, a smaller prototype called the

Airbus E-Fan The Airbus E-Fan is a prototype two-seater electric aircraft that was under development by Airbus. It was flown in front of the world press at the Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom in July 2014. The target market was intended to be pil ...

was built and flown in 2014. The first flight was from the company's facility in Bordeaux, France.
''Airbus Flies Electric Airplane'', Flying (magazine), Flying, 29 April 2014 The E-Fan is a composite, tandem two-seat low-wing aircraft. Two ducted fans are mounted on either side of its aft fuselage; each fan is driven by an electric motor of 30 kW maximum output. The batteries are lithium-ion type, sized to provide about 30 minutes of flight time.

References

Drawing of proposed electric airlinerPicture of E-Fan prototype

External links

Airbus subsidiaries and divisions {{aero-stub