Of the many startups that are pursuing the goal of building an electric airliner, Wright Electric stands out. Instead of focusing on light or regional aircraft, Wright’s founder, Jeff Engler, has decided to aim at the core of the industry, the mid-sized aircraft market.

Wright Electric is currently working to retrofit a 100-seat BAe 146 airliner with 2MW electric motors, but if all goes well, the idea is to scale this up and come up with an electric alternative to the A320/B737 models that currently dominate the skies, well…at least for the shorter, under 800mi, segment of this market.

How is Wright Electric going to do so? With which technologies? Which batteries are they evaluating to get to this so-far elusive goal?

We’ve got Jeff on the podcast to tell us all about Wright Electric, his views on the electrification of the mid-size airliner market, the pros and cons of different propulsion systems and their collaboration with airlines such as Easyjet and VivaAerobus, as well as with several research agencies and organizations, including NASA.

Tune in for an overview of one of the most daring electric aircraft programmes out there!