An EU-funded project introduced a truly transformative business model aimed at converting current gasoline-powered light aircraft into hybrid propulsion aircraft. This is a significant step forward in hybrid-electric propulsion for small airplanes.
The average light aircraft in use are more than 30 years old. The aviation industry has been slow to electrify aircraft engines despite the technology being readily available on the market. This is because lack of requisite expertise in hybrid technology could increase maintenance costs, environmental contamination and safety risks.
Hybrid electric and fully electric vehicles have become more popular over the last few years. Several solutions have been proposed on the market regarding fully electric engines in new aircraft. Instead of catering to only new airplanes, the HYBPRO project proposed retrofitting existing planes with hybrid propulsion engines as a full service to the owner.