HAWTHORNE, Calif. — The Ampaire Electric Eel is an airplane that runs on a hybrid system using part fuel and part electricity.

You can think of it as being like a Prius that flies.

What You Need To Know

  • A new major scientific report finds that climate change is harming the planet faster than we can adapt

  • Aviation emits about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions with that number expected to rise

  • Ampaire flew the first hybrid-electric test platform in 2019 (The Electric EEL), using both electric and traditional powertrains

  • Ampaire currently retrofits existing planes by removing the combustion engine and replacing it with a hybrid-electric system

Ampaire CEO and co-founder Kevin Noertker said a recent flight measured over a 30% reduction in fuel compared to a traditional engine. He’s hoping it’s a big step forward for an aviation industry that’s been looking for ways to decarbonize.

“Starting in this corner of the industry, deploy sustainable technologies to ultimately reduce the fuel burn and overall Co2 equivalent footprint of the industry by bringing new propulsion technology to market,” said Noertker.

Ampaire was co-founded in 2016 to revolutionize the aviation industry and help the planet, starting by taking a page out of the electric vehicle manual.

They take existing regional aircraft, like the Cessna Grand Caravan, remove the combustion engine, and upgrade it to a hybrid-electric system.

And while the Grand Caravan seats only nine passengers, Ampaire sees the sky as the limit.

“The same core technology scales up to much larger planes, so your 30-, 50-, 75-, 100-seat planes will be able to adopt this type of technology as well,” said Noertker.

While the U.S. has set a goal of achieving net-zero emissions from the aviation sector by 2050, Ampaire CTO Ed Lovelace — who came from the EV world — says we’re only at the dawn of electrified aviation, with Ampaire being only one of a few in the air.

“The maturity of the market is still at the very early stages. One way to think about it, is we’re at the stage where the Prius is just about to be introduced in electrified aviation,” said Lovelace.

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But Ampaire’s goals reach beyond clean aircraft to building planes that are quieter and cheaper. They also hope to connect more people regionally regardless of socioeconomic status.

“By decreasing the cost of operation, we can actually make it economical for airlines to fly to those regional and municipal airports directly serving those communities without the burden of pollution and noise,” said Noertker.