This reality makes it necessary for aviation to become sustainable. Even though many carriers are increasing efficiency and offsetting emissions, the industry needs to progress from carbon-based fuels like gasoline to cleaner, renewable energy sources. In 2016, the ground-breaking Solar Impulse plane traveled 24,855 miles around the world powered only by solar energy. The jet, however, only carried two pilots, yet it showed promise.

Electric planes afford efficiency since they are estimated to be 10% more efficient than traditional planes and entirely emission-free. They are also much quieter than conventional aircraft, allowing them to operate near residential and business areas. Electric aircraft can also take off and land on fairly short runways or even vertically, meaning they can be used in cities, where ground transportation creates congestion, and they can also easily reach remote areas.

So, what is holding up electric aircraft? Electric batteries store 40 times less energy per unit of weight than jet fuel, meaning they are not powerful enough to propel commercial jets. New battery chemistry would be needed to make electric planes viable.

Despite the odds, several projects are underway to develop electric aviation planes:

Wright Electric, a US startup, is developing an all-electric powered airliner that can fly up to 335 miles, covering short-haul routes like London to Paris or New York to Boston, and can carry up to 186 passengers. Wright Electric recently partnered with EasyJet, since its electric planes could cover a fifth of the airline’s current flight routes. They expect to have an electric aviation plane in the air in the next 20 years.

Israeli startup Eviation is working on the Alice Commuter, an electric plane that can carry nine passengers up to 650 miles at a cruising speed of 240 knots. The Alice Commuter uses airframe design and the latest lithium-ion battery technology to exceed the 400Wh/kg mark and lift 65% of the aircraft’s weight. The Alice Commuter is expected to debut in 2021.

Alpha Electro II, a two-seater electric aircraft powered by a special lithium-polymer battery with an energy density of around 175Wh/kg, is aiming to cover all Norwegian short-haul flights by 2040.

E-Genius, a fully electric-powered airplane developed at the University of Stuttgart, can fly 250 miles with two crew members at 142 miles per hour.

Airbus has joined Siemens and Rolls-Royce to create the E-Fan X, an electric plane range. The prototype E-Fan crossed the English Channel in 2015, powered solely by electricity. It hopes to take flight in 2020 for short-haul commercial flights. The plane uses a gas turbine to power an electric generator, which makes it a hybrid-electric plane.

Vahana and CityAirbus are being developed by Airbus. The Vahana is an unmanned electrical aircraft that can land and take-off vertically and carry passengers and cargo within a city. The plane was successfully tested in February 2018. The CityAirbus is also self-piloted and can carry four people. The CityAirbus will be tested in 2018.

Boeing is working with JetBlue Technology Ventures on the Zunum Aero, a hybrid-electric aircraft that can carry 12 passengers, with a range of 700 miles. It is being designed to transition to full electrical power once a more powerful battery is developed.

The NASA X-57 Maxwell is an experimental electric plane with 14 electrical motors integrated into a wing. It had its first test flight in 2017 and is set to fly properly in 2018.

The Pipistrel Alpha Electro uses a 60-kilowatt electric engine made by Siemens and can remain airborne for an hour. The company is in discussions with Uber about using the aircraft in cities since it has vertical take-off and landing capabilities.

The future of electric aviation looks bright, though further developments may surprise us and we may all be flying in electric aircraft sooner than later.

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The objectives overall serve to benefit not only the airline industry as a whole but also travelers who could see airfares slashed by up to 10 percent or more as a result of needing few crewmembers to operate an aircraft. Additionally, owners and operators would see their investments in these technologies leveraged against the need for fewer numbers of crew members and therefore could start reaping the rewards earlier than anticipated which could offset costs.

Not everyone is thrilled at the prospect however, opponents of autonomous of single-pilot planes say that the need for more than one crew member, pilots especially, far outweighs the risk associated with singularly piloted aircraft. They argue that if there were to be an incident, for example in the case of a pilot becoming incapacitated due to medical emergency, etc, who would pilot the plane. Proponents say that they have considered this and are working toward developing remote pilots to assist in the event of an emergency.

Currently the autonomous aircraft being developed are for short hops and proximity travel, Airbus is in the process of working on an urban taxi type of aircraft they call Vahana. The muli-propeller Vahana can fly up to 50 miles before needing a recharge on its battery. The aircraft is expected to take off on test flights this year and potentially be ready for launch in 2021.

Boeing unmanned electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) cargo air vehicle (CAV) prototype.

On the other hand, Boeing is counting on developers to turn out technologies that make it possible for self flying interfaces that could potentially pilot passenger planes and airliners. They will begin testing their technology on flight deck simulators before testing it on an actual plane in 2019.

As for the impact autonomously piloted planes could have on the aviation industry and the ease of use for owners and operators of self-flying aircraft, the implications are relatively unknown at present, however, the benefits and drawbacks could both prove endless. At this stage, only time will tell. Industry insiders are predicting that this self-flying or autonomous types of travel could be integrated into the flight industry sooner rather than later.

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