...  “They’ve recognized that market is untouched,” said Matthew Clarke, a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He pointed out many companies are working on electric-powered engines whose limited range could make them a good fit for these relatively short flights. Their engines are also easier to maintain than ones powered by jet fuel. “Electric propulsion typically is a few orders of magnitude more robust because there are fewer moving parts, and therefore it requires less maintenance, is cheaper to operate,” Clarke said. Hybrid and electric engines also require less or no fuel, cost savings that could be passed on to the consumer...

“It’s going to take longer in terms of certification, probably 2027 or 2028,” says Matthew Clarke, a postdoctoral fellow in aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. “These conventional electric aircraft will take off first.” Switching out fossil fuels for batteries will already represent a major change for aviation, since electric aircraft will have new propulsion systems and carry batteries on board.  Using batteries to get around is a common tactic for building more climate-friendly transit. Electric cars reached about 13% of new car sales in 2022. Buses, trains, and ships could all be powered by batteries, at least in some scenarios.  But aviation will have a more difficult time following the same path, largely because batteries are heavy. Every ounce matters for vehicles that need to cruise thousands of feet in the air, and bigger planes traveling longer distances would need bigger, heavier batteries, which is why most efforts in electric aviation so far have focused on smaller aircraft.