Boeing Wants to Get into Electric Flying

Boeing will work with Japanese companies to develop electrically powered aircraft.

For example, Boeing will work with GS to develop Yuasa batteries for aircraft, Sinfonia Trechnology and Tamagawa Seiki will be involved in the development of small motors, and Kyushu University and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology will support the development of superconducting motors that would be useful for electric flying.

Carbon fiber specialist Toray Industries will be brought on board as well as Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Subaru, who will automate the production of the aircraft, Nikkei Asian Review reports. Through a partnership with METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), Boeing intends to make contact with other Japanese companies that could be helpful in the development of the new generation of aircraft. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is also part of the team that assembles the wings for the Dreamliner.

In November last year, Boeing announced that it was setting up a joint venture with Safran to develop Auxiliary Power Units (APU). The APUs are engines on board aircraft that start the main engines.

Safran in turn is working with Zunum Aero, a start-up company that develops hybrid electric aircraft and in which Boeing, among others, has invested. Safran wants to adapt its own helicopter engine to Zunum's ZA10 hybrid-electric aircraft. The ZA10 will use a gas turbine and batteries to fly and transport 12 people over distances of less than 1000 miles. The batteries are integrated into the wings and can easily be recharged or replaced at airports. From 2022 Zunum wants to deliver the first aircraft. First flight tests are to be started near Chicago this year.