Electric aviation companies to watch: Wright Electric

Wright Electric builds technology for large commercial airplanes and is currently developing its flagship electric aircraft.

Launched in 2016, New York-based Wright Electric builds technology for large commercial airplanes and is developing its flagship electric aircraft. The Wright Spirit will be a zero-emission 100-passenger airplane for one-hour flights, and the Wright 1 will be a 186-seat single-aisle aircraft with an 800-mile range.

The company’s mission is to eliminate carbon emissions from all flights under 800 miles, so it’s targeting single-aisle planes, which account for 45 percent of all aviation emissions. Wright plans on doing this by developing electric motors, high-frequency inverters and adaptable propulsion systems. The company is in the development stages for its motors and inverters and will be working on the propulsion fans this year. After 2022, Wright will be in testing mode ahead of its plans to launch the Wright Spirit by 2026 and the Wright 1 by 2030.

Wright is funded by NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, Y Combinator, Lionheart Ventures, the U.S. Air Force and other investors. The company is designing its electric motors to be scalable from 500 kilowatts to four megawatts.

“The level of power and weight demonstrated with our new 2 MW motor will become the baseline for any new electric aircraft and is a key technology in our megawatt system,” Wright CEO Jeff Engler said in a press release. greenbiz.com