In a press release this week, NASA has announced its electric plane that will save fuel, time, and reduce pollution, thus helping the environment:
Energy efficiency at cruise altitude using X-57 technology could benefit travelers by reducing flight times, fuel usage, as well as reducing overall operational costs for small aircraft by as much as 40 percent. Typically, to get the best fuel efficiency an airplane has to fly slower than it is able. Electric propulsion essentially eliminates the penalty for cruising at higher speeds.
The plane was named after James Clerk Maxwell:
NASA researchers working directly with the electric airplane also chose to name the aircraft “Maxwell” to honor James Clerk Maxwell, the 19th century Scottish physicist who did groundbreaking work in electromagnetism. His importance in contributing to the understanding of physics is rivaled only by Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton part of a four-year flight demonstrator plan, NASA’s Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology Operations Research project will build the X-57 by modifying a recently procured, Italian-designed Tecnam P2006T twin-engine light aircraft
Here is a video by Aban Tech that gives a somewhat robotic, but fascinating and comprehensive two-minute explanation of the electric aircraft.
Pretty exciting news on many counts. You can learn more at Armstrong Flight Research Center.