A hybrid-electric aviation company has unveiled a new conceptual aircraft design for next-generation airliners.

Electra’s conceptual aircraft uses a wide “double-bubble” fuselage that allows the body of the aircraft to contribute more lift, while two underwing turbofan engines produce thrust as well as electricity to power electric tail fans that ingest and re-energize slower-moving air over the fuselage.

Latest configuration could deliver up to a 17 percent efficiency

The technique is known as boundary layer ingestion. Electra’s analysis found that the configuration could deliver up to a 17 percent efficiency improvement beyond gains expected by 2050 from advanced structures, engine technologies, and aerodynamic improvements.

“The value of electrification in this concept is that it lets us put the propulsion where it couldn’t go before but does the most good,” said Dr. Parker Vascik, Director of Product Strategy at Electra.

“We can radically improve how the airframe and propulsion system work together while keeping the aircraft grounded in real airline and airport operations. The goal is not just efficiency on paper, but concepts that we can actually build, certify, and use.”

The company also revealed that the concept is designed to fit within existing airport gates and airline operations, use standard jet fuel or sustainable aviation fuel, and avoid reliance on airport charging infrastructure or untested fuel types. The configuration also supports a twin-aisle cabin layout within a narrowbody aircraft class, unlocking improved passenger comfort and more efficient boarding and deplaning. 

The concept is developed as part of NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 program.

“This concept builds on years of research into how airframe shape and propulsion placement can work together to improve aircraft efficiency,” said Dr. Alejandra Uranga, Electra’s Chief Engineer for Research and Future Concepts.

“What is different now is the ability to use electrification and distributed propulsion to more deeply integrate those systems. Designing the aircraft as a whole system is essential to realizing the full potential of future commercial aircraft.”

NASA’s open-source Aviary multidisciplinary design adopted

In addition to the concept, Electra developed 11 technical papers documenting the models, methods, and findings behind the study. The company also adopted NASA’s open-source Aviary multidisciplinary design and optimization tool and developed an electrified aircraft design suite intended for public use. Together, these contributions are intended to help advance the broader aviation research community, not just push forward a single aircraft concept, according to a press release.

Electra’s AACES 2050 team brought together leaders across industry and academia, including American Airlines, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Hinetics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the University of Michigan Department of Aerospace Engineering, and the University of California, Irvine’s Aircraft Systems Laboratory, as per the release.

“Through AACES, NASA is pushing the industry to think boldly, to use our novel propulsion technologies to unconstrain design thinking for the next generation of commercial aviation,” said Marc Allen, CEO of Electra.

“The third era of aviation will bring radical change to how people and places connect, whether applied to aircraft entering service this decade, future regional platforms, or commercial transport by mid-century. Electra’s focus as the hybrid electric leader is to keep American aviation, and NASA, leading the way.”