Heart Aerospace’s X1, the largest all-electric aircraft, flies for $5

At Plattsburgh International Airport in upstate New York, Heart Aerospace’s X1 climbed to 1,100 feet on August 12 and stayed in the air for nearly half an hour. The battery-electric demonstrator used just $5 of electricity, while its propulsion system delivered more than 1 MW of power.

The aircraft is comparable in size to a small regional airliner. Four electric motors mounted on its wings helped it reach a maximum takeoff weight exceeding 25,000 pounds. InsideEVs called the U.S.-made X1 the world’s largest electric aircraft; Ars Technica described it as the largest battery-electric aircraft to take to the skies.

The flight is a test, not a commercial launch. Battery-electric aircraft can offer quieter, cleaner flight, but current systems typically sustain only short flights of about 100 to 200 miles. That range has kept battery-electric aviation focused on operations such as air taxis, including those planned by Joby and Archer.

Heart Aerospace is using the X1, and a planned follow-on X2, to develop the ES-30, a 30-seat hybrid-electric regional airliner. Its design would pair two inboard electric motors with commercial turboprop engines running on jet fuel, enabling 125 miles of all-electric flight and 500 miles in hybrid mode.

So what changes in practice? The X1 shows that a regional-aircraft-sized demonstrator can complete a flight with electric propulsion and very low reported energy cost. The ES-30 is aimed at the routes where today’s batteries fall short: short-haul links between major U.S. and European cities. United Airlines has committed to eventually purchasing 100 aircraft, while other major airlines have signed letters of intent, according to Flying magazine. The aircraft remains planned rather than in service, and the $5 figure comes from this test flight, not from an independent commercial operating study.