Several airlines’ ambitions for hybrid-electric aviation may have been dashed this week following the bankruptcy of Dutch manufacturer Maeve Aerospace. But as one company searches for a new path forward, another is preparing for hybrid-electric flight tests.
GE Aerospace said Thursday that it completed its first ground test of a fully integrated, hybrid-electric powertrain that it described as “megawatt-class.” Developed through NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) program under a five-year, $260 million contract, the system combines an electric powertrain and traditional gas turbine that GE believes will deliver improvements in durability, range, and efficiency.
The hybrid engine comprises a motor, generators, power systems, and controllers developed by GE, as well as propellers and gearboxes from the company’s Dowty and Avio Aero subsidiaries. BAE Systems provided batteries used for the testing, and Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences division supplied a nacelle.
Ground testing took place at Peebles Test Operation in Ohio, where GE teams simulated taxi, takeoff, climb, and cruise. The firm in a news release said the electric powertrain successfully powered a propeller and battery. It added that it used components that “meet higher safety and reliability requirements than typical test hardware” in order to “mature a commercial-grade hybrid electric engine system.”
GE said the evaluations pave the way for flight testing. In 2022, the company said its testbed would be a Saab 340B powered by its CT7-9B turboprop engines.
“Step by step, we’re proving hybrid electric engine technology for next-generation commercial aircraft,” said Arjan Hegeman, GE’s vice president for future of flight, in a statement. “The ground test is a major turning point in our understanding of hybrid electric powertrains for aviation and a fundamental building block for the future.”
Flying Into the Future
GE in 2021 was awarded a NASA EPFD contract to develop and demonstrate hybrid-electric engine systems for single-aisle aircraft. EPFD conducts ground and flight testing of electrified propulsion systems at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) at the space agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Ohio.
In 2022 under the program, GE performed what it said was the world’s first test of a megawatt-class, multi-kilovolt hybrid-electric propulsion system at NEAT, simulating altitude conditions up to 45,000 feet.
EPFD also collaborates with MagniX, which is retrofitting de Havilland’s Dash 7 with a system that combines traditional turbo-propeller engines with electric motors. The objective is to demonstrate emissions and fuel burn reductions for 50-passenger regional aircraft, with flight testing planned for this year.
Separately, GE in 2025 began ground testing a narrowbody, hybrid-electric demonstrator built around a modified GE Passport engine for NASA’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project. The partners aim to mature the technology—designed to burn 10 percent less fuel versus best-in-class single-aisle engines—for commercial operations by the 2030s.
GE said the fully integrated system that recently completed testing is compatible with different fuel types, as well as advanced engines like the open fan system in development under CFM International’s Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) program.
RISE since 2021 has completed over 350 tests with a variety of demonstrators, including the open fan architecture that it estimates could improve fuel efficiency by 20 percent without sacrificing speed. The project is solely for research purposes and will not sell any aircraft.
That said, CFM—a 50-50 joint venture between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines—has already shown it can improve fuel efficiency. Its LEAP and CFM56 engine series are used by more than 750 operators of popular large narrowbodies like the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max. LEAP engines, introduced in 2015, use 15 percent less fuel compared to the most advanced CFM56 models.
GE felt confident enough in its pursuit of hybrid-electric propulsion to make a $300 million investment in electric aircraft developer Beta Technologies, announced in October. The partners plan to develop a hybrid electric turbogenerator for civil, defense, and advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft such as electric air taxis.