A team of researchers from the UK University of Cambridge, in collaboration with Boeing, have successfully built and tested the world’s first hybrid electric aircraft.
The aircraft is powered by a Honda 4-stroke piston engine and a custom-made electric motor/generator, coupled together to drive the propeller. Researchers claims that the single-seater aircraft uses 30 per cent less fuel than a similar plane with a petrol engine and that it can recharge its batteries mid-flight.
At times when a lot of power is required, such as during take-off and climb, the hybrid aircraft uses both the engine and the motor to drive the propeller. However, once it is at cruising height, the electric motor can be switched into generator mode to recharge the batteries or used to assist the engines to lower fuel consumption. The principle is the same applied in case of a hybrid car.
Dr Paul Robertson of Cambridge’s Engineering Department, who led the project said: “Although hybrid cars have been available for more than a decade, what’s been holding back the development of hybrid or fully-electric aircraft until now is battery technology.”
“Until recently, they have been too heavy and didn’t have enough energy capacity. But with the advent of improved lithium-polymer batteries, similar to what you’d find in a laptop computer, hybrid aircraft – albeit at a small scale – are now starting to become viable.”
The researchers called the test flight “an important step forward” in developing low carbon aircraft. The aircraft was tested at the Sywell Aerodrome, near Northampton, UK. The trial test consisted of a series of ‘hops’ along the runway, followed by longer evaluation flights at a height of over 1,500 feet.
Marty Bradley, Boeing’s principal investigator for the programme, said “Our mission is to keep our sights on finding innovative solutions and technologies that solve our industry’s toughest challenges and continually improve environmental performance. Hybrid electric is one of several important elements of our research efforts, and we are learning more every day about the feasibility of these technologies and how they could be used in the future.”
