The Airbus E-Fan is a prototype two-seater

electric aircraft An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electricity. Electric aircraft are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of aviation, providing zero emissions and quieter flights. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods, ...

that was under development by

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 ...

. It was flown in front of the world press at the

Farnborough Airshow The Farnborough Airshow, officially the Farnborough International Airshow, is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors. Since its fir ...

in the United Kingdom in July 2014. The target market was intended to be

pilot training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

, but production of the aircraft was cancelled in April 2017.

Design and development

Airbus Group developed this electric aircraft with Aero Composites Saintonge. The aircraft uses on-board

lithium-ion batteries A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

to power the two electric motors and can carry one pilot and one passenger. A test flight was conducted in April 2014 at

Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Bordeaux-Mérignac) is the international airport of Bordeaux, in south-western France. It is situated in the Communes of France, ''commune'' of Mérignac, Gironde, Mérignac, west o ...

, France, landing in front of a large audience, the French Minister of Industry

Arnaud Montebourg Arnaud Montebourg (; born 30 October 1962) is a French politician, lawyer and entrepreneur who served as the Minister of Industrial Renewal from 2012 to 2014,regional aircraft A regional airliner or a feederliner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typically flown by the r ...

in the near future. The E-Fan is an all-electric two-seat twin-motor

low-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

structure. It has a

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...

and a retractable tandem landing gear with outrigger wheels. The two motors are mounted on either side of the rear fuselage. Two production variants were initially planned, a two-seater E-Fan 2.0 for use as a trainer, and the E-Fan 4.0 four-seat touring aircraft. The E-Fan 4.0 appears identical to the E-Fan apart from a fuselage stretch. To increase flight duration the planned E-Fan 4.0 would have had a hybrid-electric system that will have a small engine to charge the battery (like a

range extender A range extender is a fuel-based auxiliary power unit (APU) that extends the range of a battery electric vehicle by driving an electric generator that charges the vehicle's battery. This arrangement is known as a series hybrid drivetrain. The ...

), which would have increased its duration from 2 hours to 3.5 hours. The first flight of the E-Fan 2.0 was originally planned for 2017 and the E-Fan 4.0 for 2019. The E-fan is of all-composite construction and is propelled by two ducted, variable-pitch fans spun by two electric motors totaling 60 kW of power. Ducting increases thrust while reducing noise, and having the fans mounted centrally provides better control. The motors moving the fans are powered by a series of 250-volt

Lithium polymer battery A lithium polymer battery, or more correctly lithium-ion polymer battery (abbreviated as LiPo, LIP, Li-poly, lithium-poly and others), is a rechargeable battery of lithium-ion technology using a polymer electrolyte instead of a liquid electrolyt ...

packs made by South Korean company Kokam. The batteries are mounted in the inboard section of the wings. They have enough power for one hour and take one hour to recharge. An onboard backup battery is available to make an emergency landing if power runs out while airborne. The E-fan's

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

consists of a retractable fore and aft wheel, and a fixed wheel under the wings. Unusually for an aircraft, the main wheel is powered by a 6 kW electric motor, which allows the plane to be taxied without the main motors, and is able to accelerate it to for takeoffs. Having the takeoff run performed by the undercarriage relieves some of the burden on the flight motors. E FAN Airbus DS 20140524 1237

In December 2014 Airbus announced that

DAHER-SOCATA SOCATA (later EADS Socata and DAHER-SOCATA) was a French producer of general aviation aircraft propelled by piston engines and turboprops, including business planes, small personal or training aircraft, as well as the production of aircraft stru ...

would complete the design work on the aircraft and

certify Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

it.

VoltAir VoltAir is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus 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 sm ...

, an Airbus subsidiary, developed the initial prototype and worked with Daher-Socata during the testing phase as the project manager. At this point the aircraft became the VoltAir E-Fan. On 30 April 2015 the company announced that the aircraft would be produced at

Pau Pyrénées Airport Pau Pyrénées Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport Pau Pyrénées) is an airport serving Pau, France. It is located northwest of Pau in Uzein, a '' commune'' of the ''département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (named for the Pyrénées mounta ...

, south-west France, at a new facility, that would be near the DAHER-SOCATA plant at

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...

. First deliveries were at that time expected at the end of 2017 or early 2018. In April 2017 Airbus cancelled production of the E-Fan, preferring to concentrate on a proposed hybrid-electric, regional jet-sized aircraft, with an initial service date of 2030.

Operational history

On 9 July 2015, the E-Fan crossed the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

from

Lydd Airport London Ashford Airport is east of the town of Lydd and south of Ashford in the district of Folkestone and Hythe, in Kent, England. Originally named Lydd Ferryfield, it is now also known as London Ashford Airport, despite being from Lond ...

Calais–Dunkerque Airport Calais–Dunkerque Airport (french: Aéroport de Calais - Dunkerque) is an airport located in Marck, east-northeast of Calais, in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The airport also serves Dunkerque (a c ...

. It was flown by Didier Esteyne, the chief engineer of the E-Fan. Initially this was claimed as the first electric aircraft to cross the

, but it has since been pointed out that there were previous such flights, including

MacCready Solar Challenger The Solar Challenger was a solar-powered electric aircraft designed by Paul MacCready's AeroVironment. The aircraft was designed as an improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, which in turn was a solar-powered variant of the human-powered Gossamer ...

as long ago as 1981, and Airbus now say it was the "first all-electric two-engine aircraft" to make the crossing.

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

has sponsored electric equipment on the E-fan, but not motors.

Variants

;E-Fan :Two-seat concept aircraft and technology demonstrator, first flown March 2014. ;E-Fan 2.0 :Proposed all-electric two-seat production variant, initially forecast to fly in 2017. ;E-Fan 4.0 :Proposed hybrid-electric four-seat variant, to fly 2019; a kerosene fuelled generator would have extended endurance from 2 h to 3 h 30 min. ;E-Thrust :Proposed 90-seat regional jet based on the principles of the E-Fan.

Specifications

References

External links