Elysian Refines Its Bold All Electric E9X Airliner

Dutch startup Elysian has revised the design of its all-electric E9X airliner. The aircraft now features fewer electromotors and an extended wing, which houses the battery packages.

Elysian said in a media release on Friday that it has completed the Conceptual Design Review, in line with what it said last year. It has also flight-tested the concept using a scale model airplane with a 4m span. The design has progressed to a full-scale wing model to check battery integration.

Elysian, owned by Panta Holding, received extensive media coverage when it unveiled the bold design of the E9X in early 2024. The start-up proposed an aircraft with a long fuselage for 90 passengers, with the battery packages placed in the wings with a 42-meter span. The eight electromotors would propel the aircraft to a range of 500nm/805km, later trimmed to 430nm/800km.

While various specialists at the time questioned the studies that Elysian Aircraft presented, the company maintains that its different design approach to electric aircraft would prove them wrong. None of the ten “hot potatoes” that it identified as potential show-stoppers is insurmountable. Elysian claims that, at 18 percent, the all-battery design has the lowest energy loss compared to a hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen turbine, the lowest energy costs, and the lowest maintenance costs. For reserve purposes, a turbogenerator is located at the back of the aircraft.

Extended wing span
In the latest design iteration, the wing span has been extended to 50 meters. Instead of eight electromotors, the simplified design now has six motors with a slightly higher output. Fewer motors allow for a cleaner wing closer to the folding wingtips. Maximum Take-Off Weight has increased to 82.5 tonnes, up from 76 tonnes.

Carrying 88 to 100 passengers, the revised E9X now has a slightly lower range of 400nm/750km, but Chief Technology Officer Rob Wolleswinkel thinks the range could reach 540/1.000km once more powerful batteries with higher watt-hours per kilogram become available. But even at the reduced range, the aircraft can operate on 50 percent of the world’s air network.

Elysian will now work its way towards the preliminary design. Wolleswinkel: ”We’re maturing the E9X through targeted demonstrators and system testing, while advancing the enabling technologies. These technologies also have relevance beyond the E9X civil program. Engagement with relevant stakeholders confirms strong interest in these capabilities and supports earlier in-flight demonstration of these technologies.”

The scale model plane will be used to further validate the design. The Wing Integration Mock-Up will test and mature battery-wing integration and structural installation. Elysian will also construct a Power Distribution Rig for high-voltage architecture testing, plus a Battery Demonstrator focused on pack-level integration and modularity.

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Richard Schuurman

Richard Schuurman is a freelance aviation reporter since 2016 and covers commercial aviation and the aerospace industry. He has contributed before to AirInsight between 2018-2024.

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