NASA’s X-57 “Maxwell” is the agency’s first all-electric experimental aircraft, or X-plane, and its first crewed X-plane in two decades.
Electric propulsion has the potential to make planes quieter, more efficient and more environmentally friendly, and Maxwell’s design driver includes zero carbon emissions in flight. Electric propulsion provides not only a five to ten times reduction in greenhouse gas emissions but also a technology path for aircraft to eliminate 100 low lead aviation gasoline, which is the leading contributor to lead environmental emissions. Additionally, the X-57 will include 14 battery-powered motors that will run off renewable electricity, making clear the environmental and economic advantages.
The primary goal of the X-57 project is to share the aircraft’s electric propulsion-focused design and airworthiness process with regulators in order to advance certification approaches for distributed electric propulsion in emerging electric aircraft markets.