PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Los Angeles-based Heart Aerospace has completed the first flight of its full-scale X1 demonstrator, using more than one megawatt of electric power during a 27-minute test intended to gather data for its planned ES-30 regional airliner.
The battery-electric aircraft took off from Plattsburgh International Airport in New York on Aug. 12 and climbed to 1,100 feet above ground level. The test covered taxi, takeoff, climb, maneuvering, and landing under a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental Category.
At 106 feet across and 76 feet long, X1 weighed more than 25,000 pounds at takeoff. Heart Aerospace said that makes it the largest battery-electric aircraft to fly to date.
The company built X1 at full scale to test electric propulsion and aircraft systems under conditions that more closely resemble those of a commercial aircraft. Instead of developing the demonstrator for passenger service, Heart is using it to inform development of the ES-30, a 30-seat hybrid-electric regional aircraft.
Related: Safran begins PHILEAS hybrid-electric engine ground testing
X1 puts electric propulsion to work at full scale
Battery-electric propulsion has flown on smaller aircraft, but increasing size changes the engineering problem. A larger vehicle requires notably more power while adding the weight of the batteries needed to provide it. X1's propulsion system delivered more than one megawatt during its first flight. Heart said the aircraft operated entirely on batteries and consumed about $5 worth of electricity during the mission.
That figure doesn't translate directly into the operating cost of a future passenger vehicle. X1 flew for less than half an hour at relatively low altitude, and the production ES-30 will use a different hybrid-electric architecture. The flight instead gives Heart an opportunity to operate a large electric propulsion system as part of a complete aircraft and collect data in flight.
Heart founder and CEO Anders Forslund said the company sees electrification as a way to lower airline operating costs and make shorter regional routes more economical.
The demonstrator feeds into the ES-30 program
Data collected through the X1 program will feed into development of the ES-30 as Heart moves toward testing its production design. The production aircraft will use a conventional fixed-wing configuration and carry 30 passengers. Unlike the battery-only X1, the ES-30 is being developed with hybrid-electric propulsion. Heart plans to pursue FAA Part 25 certification, the certification framework used for transport-category aircraft.
The company has received commitments for the ES-30 from airlines including United, Air Canada and JSX. Heart currently targets entry into service in 2031.
Before then, the program will move through another major flight-test stage. Heart is building its first pre-production ES-30 at its pilot manufacturing facility in Los Angeles and plans to begin flight testing that aircraft in 2028.
Heart targets lower costs for regional flying
The commercial case for the ES-30 depends in part on whether electrification can change the economics of shorter airline routes.
Heart expects the production aircraft to cut operating costs by more than 40% compared with legacy regional aircraft. The company attributes that estimate to lower energy costs, fewer maintenance requirements and increased aircraft availability from its electric propulsion and flight systems.
Electric motors can simplify parts of the propulsion system compared with conventional turbine engines, but the ES-30 will still have to demonstrate those advantages in airline service. Certification requirements and the infrastructure needed to support electric aircraft will also factor into how the economics develop. The company expects advances in battery technology to improve that equation over time.
With the first X1 flight complete, Heart can continue gathering data from the demonstrator while development of the pre-production ES-30 moves forward in Los Angeles. Flight testing of that aircraft is scheduled to begin in 2028.
