Wright Electric is an American startup company developing an electric airliner.

Design

The aircraft is to run on batteries and handle flights of under 300 miles. It will feature high aspect-ratio wings for energy efficient flight, distributed

electric propulsion Spacecraft electric propulsion (or just electric propulsion) is a type of spacecraft propulsion technique that uses electrostatic or electromagnetic fields to accelerate mass to high speed and thus generate thrust to modify the velocity of a sp ...

and swappable battery packs with advanced cell chemistry.

History

The 10-person Los Angeles based startup was founded in 2016 and has received

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

from groups such as Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator. The company is named after the Wright brothers. In September 2017, UK budget carrier

EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...

announced it was developing an electric 180-seater for 2027 with Wright Electric. Wright Electric built a two-seat proof-of-concept with 272kg (600lb) of batteries, and believes that batteries can be scaled up with substantially lighter new battery chemistries: a 291 nautical mile (540km) range would suffice for 20% of Easyjet passengers. Wright Electric plans to develop a 10-seater and eventually an at least 120 passengers single-aisle, short-haul airliner and targets 50% lower noise and 10% lower costs. To evaluate electric propulsion systems, two test stands were constructed: one with two 250 kW

UQM UQM Technologies Inc was an American manufacturer of electrical motors, generators, motor controllers, fuel cell compressor systems and hybrid systems for passenger and commercial vehicles. Established in 1967 as Unique Mobility Inc, UQM was base ...

motors and two

Hartzell Propeller Hartzell Propeller is an American manufacturer that was founded in 1917 by Robert N. Hartzell as the Hartzell Walnut Propeller Company. It produces composite and aluminum propellers for certified, homebuilt, and ultralight aircraft. The compan ...

s, built with Yates Electrospace, the other on a trailer to be brought to high altitude test sites. In May 2018, Jetex, a Dubai

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...

with 30 bases, invested in the company. By November 2018, Wright was testing a commercially available electric motor, before combining it with a

Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously upda ...

A turboprop to be installed on an existing nine-seater for 2019 flight tests, which may be marketed subsequently. Wright is working with Madrid-based Axter Aerospace, already flying its two-seat AX-40S based on a

Tecnam P92 The Tecnam P92 Echo and Tecnam P92 Eaglet are Italian high-winged, light aircraft, designed by Luigi Pascale and built by Tecnam of Naples. Design and development The P92 design dates to 1960, but versions comply with the Fédération Aéronau ...

with a Rotax piston engine and an electric motor driving the propeller, with four times less power. After a 50-seat model, Darold Cummings, designer of the ESAero ECO-80 turboelectric configuration for NASA, evolved this previous design for the Wright 186-seat airliner with 500 km (270 nm) of range for Easyjet, which could use a more powerful Wright-patented motor. By November 2019, test flights of the nine-seater were to begin in the coming weeks, while EasyJet partnered with

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 ...

to study a short-haul airliner concurrently. In January 2020, Wright Electric revealed that it was constructing a 1.5 MW electric motor and 3 kV inverter intended to power a 186-seat ''Wright 1'' aircraft with a range of at least that could enter into service from 2030. Ground testing of the motor is planned for 2021 and flight testing for 2023. Wright Electric has been granted the

Sustainability Award Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

2020 by World Finance as the worlds most sustainable organisation in the aircraft manufacturing industry. In September 2021, Wright Electric started testing a electric motor for its range, 186-passenger ''Wright 1'' airliner to enter service in 2030, partnering with EasyJet and

Viva Aerobus Aeroenlaces Nacionales, S.A. de C.V., trading as Viva Aerobus, is a Mexican low-cost airline fully owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico, IAMSA, and was co-founded by and invested in by Irelandia Aviation. Based in Monterrey Internati ...

. In November 2021, the company announced an all-electric version of the

BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

regional jet for a 2024 first flight and a 2026 introduction, replacing its four turbofans with electric motors for an hour of endurance, with power coming from

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

or hydrogen fuel cells.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://weflywright.com/ Aircraft manufacturers of the United States American companies established in 2016 Manufacturing companies based in Los Angeles 2016 establishments in California Manufacturing companies established in 2016 Aerospace companies of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2016 Electric aircraft

Design

History

See also

References

External links