Wright Electric debuted its newest commercial aircraft, the 100-passenger Wright Spirit, at the UN Climate Change Conference COP 26 this week. The business claims that their new model equips the British Aerospace (BAe) 146 airliner with Wright’s megawatt-class electric propulsion system, allowing for zero-emissions operation. The corporation has set a goal of becoming an all-electric airline by 2026.
“We can create the world’s largest zero-emissions retrofit directly serving the world’s busiest routes because we built the world’s largest aerospace propulsive powertrain,” Wright Electric CEO Jeff Engler said in a statement. Wright has been working on the various components of this ecologically friendly improvement for the past couple of years.
According to Wright, its Wright Spirit aircraft will carry up to 100 passengers on one-hour flights, allowing visitors to travel over popular short-haul routes like flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco. In addition, unlike other aircraft that might be used for such a short trip, the Wright Spirit will have a zero-emission all-electric power system that will help to lessen the environmental impact of air travel.
The business intends to replace the BAe 146’s hydrocarbon propulsion system with an all-electric replacement, albeit this will take time. Following ground testing, among other things, Wright Electric hopes to begin flight testing with only one all-electric propulsor in 2023. By 2024, the business will begin testing with two electric propulsors, opening the path for all-electric propulsion to be implemented by 2026.
Though the Wright Spirit will not fly long distances, Engler believes that by transporting passengers along this high-demand, short-haul routes, the airline may “have a major impact on world emissions.”
The Wright Spirit will represent a dramatic acceleration in the industry’s effort to move away from existing hydrocarbon-based technologies and toward ones that minimize air travel’s carbon footprint, assuming the business meets its 2026 objective. “Aviation has committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” Engler said in the announcement, “but Wright is committed to a 100 percent reduction in all emissions beginning in 2026.”
Source: businesswire
