Siemens, Airbus and Rolls Royce Aim at Hybrid Electric Plane by 2020

[reuters.com] – Siemens, Airbus, Rolls-Royce team up on hybrid-electric propulsion

Airbus Vahana Autonomous E-Chopper-Plane Ready for Tests

The take-off is verticle and next the rotors tilt and become propellers. Project began early 2016. Eventually the autonomous chopper could be ordered on demand at a cost of 80% less than conventional helicopters.

[vahana.aero] – Welcome to Vahana
[twitter.com] –

The Vahana prototypes

Pipistrel Alpha Electro 2-Seater Plane

Electric airplane Pipistrel Alpha from Slovenia taking off.

17 kWh battery
Battery swap in minutes
300 meter climb per minute
Flight time one hour or longer
Optimized for flight training
Regenerative breaking: descending gives back 13% electricity
Recharge in less than one hour