Hart Aerospace ES30 Hybrid‑Electric Airliner – Key Takeaways

Hart Aerospace, led by CEO Andrew Porceland, is revolutionizing air travel with its hybrid-electric aircraft. Seven years ago, Porceland presented a 3D-printed model of his vision at Y Combinator (YC). Today, his company, with a 40-person team in Los Angeles, is building a real airliner.

The ES30: A Game Changer

Hart Aerospace's flagship aircraft, the ES30, is poised to be the world's largest electric aircraft by a factor of two. It boasts a 100-foot wingspan and a takeoff weight of 25,000 lbs. The electricity required for its initial flight cost a mere $5. The ES30 will be capable of flying up to 125 miles on battery power alone and up to 500 miles as a hybrid, with a recharge time of approximately 30 minutes. This marks the first clean-sheet airliner to be flown in the US in 18 years, regardless of propulsion type.

The Advantages of Electric Propulsion

Hart's aircraft replaces traditional jet engines with electric motors, offering several key benefits:

• Simplicity and Durability: Electric motors have very few moving parts, unlike jet engines with thousands. This simplicity leads to lower production costs and significantly reduced wear and tear, as there's no combustion or fluid.
• Quiet Operation: Electric motors offer a constant torque profile, allowing for virtually silent operation, even at low speeds.
• Efficiency: Jet engines are notoriously inefficient for short flights, especially during taxiing, takeoff, and landing. Electric motors eliminate this inefficiency, making them ideal for regional travel.
• Cost Savings: The operating economics are significantly better. The rising price of oil has further amplified these savings, making electric aircraft 48% more economical than traditional planes.

Addressing the Shortcomings of Jet Engines

Traditional jet engines present several challenges, particularly for short-haul flights:

• Fixed Costs: The complexity and cost of building a jet engine are similar for a 30-seater or a 70-seater, pushing the industry towards larger planes and longer routes.
• Inefficiency at Low Speeds: A significant portion of fuel (up to 10% for short flights) is consumed during taxiing alone.
• Poor Service for Regional Travel: The current technology poorly serves the regional flying segment, despite half of all global flights being under two hours.

The Market Opportunity

Hart Aerospace is targeting an existing replacement market. Many regional aircraft are 40-year-old designs. The focus is not on how far an aircraft can fly, but how cheaply it can fly. This makes electric aircraft ideal for short routes, such as island hopping in Hawaii or connecting Norwegian fjord towns, transforming a six-hour drive into a 20-minute flight.

The Genesis of Hart Aerospace

Andrew Porceland's fascination with planes began in Sweden, growing up near an air force base. His academic journey led him to a PhD in jet engines and eventually to MIT. The inspiration for electric planes struck 12 years ago when Elon Musk spoke at MIT about the future of electric transportation, particularly mentioning 400 watt-hours per kilogram batteries. This "call to arms" led Porceland to tinker with drones at night while working on jet engines by day. He even conducted research for the Swedish government, establishing relationships with Nordic airlines before founding his company.

From LOIs to Pre-Orders

At YC, Hart Aerospace focused on securing early interest from airlines. They obtained Letters of Intent (LOIs) from SAS and other Nordic airlines with just a 3D-printed model. This early interest allowed them to develop a 400 kW electric motor, which in turn attracted pre-orders from United Airlines, leading to more capital and the eventual construction of the plane. Porceland emphasizes that for hardware startups, each capital raise should be tied to a tangible, physical achievement.

Interestingly, United Airlines' initial inquiry came through a spam folder, highlighting the unexpected paths to major partnerships.

Design Philosophy: Conventionality with a Twist

Unlike many electric aircraft startups that opt for futuristic designs, Hart Aerospace deliberately chose a conventional appearance, resembling the turboprops they aim to replace. The philosophy is to build something familiar that "hides its Superman cape under the hood," focusing on functionality and reliability over radical aesthetics.

In-House Innovation and Testing

Hart Aerospace's pilot plant in LA is a hub of innovation. They design and build most of the plane in-house, including components like actuator bodies from aerospace aluminum. This approach allows for rapid iteration and testing, a stark contrast to traditional aerospace where sourcing a single component can take a year. The plant is wired like a giant test bench, capable of deconstructing the aircraft into its components and feeding 1.6 megawatts of power for comprehensive testing, including fault injection.

The cockpit design prioritizes simplicity, akin to the single-screen interface of a Tesla Model 3. The ES30 is designed to accommodate up to 36 passengers, with 30 being the most common configuration, offering passengers six inches of extra legroom.

The Battery Lab: The Heart of the Operation

The battery lab is crucial, where the team evaluates cells from Chinese, American, and Korean manufacturers to determine the optimal balance of flight cycles, safety, cost, and energy density. While Elon Musk's 400 Wh/kg battery target was a distant dream 12 years ago, Hart Aerospace is now testing cells at 370 Wh/kg, with a 400 Wh/kg cell expected within months, easily meeting their targets for the first generation of the aircraft.

Overcoming the Range Challenge: The Hybrid Solution

The biggest challenge for electric aircraft is the need for reserves. Unlike jet fuel, batteries don't get lighter as they are consumed. For a purely battery-electric aircraft, two-thirds of the battery capacity would be dedicated to reserves for diversions, which can be up to 100 miles away and require 45 minutes of loiter time.

Hart Aerospace's solution is a hybrid engine, based on a simple, inexpensive turboprop. This engine is not used for most flights but provides the necessary reserve power, extending the operational range to 500 miles. While it adds about 20% to the upfront cost, it's deemed worthwhile for the added flexibility and safety. This approach reflects a philosophy of minimizing the impact of getting it wrong, rather than solely minimizing the probability of failure, allowing for cheaper and easier iteration.

Addressing Doubts and Future Vision

Porceland has encountered various doubts:

• Flying Taxis vs. Regional Airplanes: Hart Aerospace is not targeting the helicopter market or flying taxis, which typically carry only a few passengers. Instead, they are focused on the mainline airplane market, operating from existing airport infrastructure.
• Hydrogen vs. Hybrid-Electric: The hybrid-electric approach benefits from a "negative green premium," meaning it's already cost-effective and leverages a larger existing technological wave.
• Appreciating Assets: The 40-year-old planes Hart Aerospace aims to replace are depreciating assets. Their electric aircraft, however, are designed to improve over time, becoming an "appreciating asset" like buying a house.

The 36-seat ES30 is just the beginning. Hart Aerospace envisions building larger planes, eventually targeting the narrow-body market dominated by aircraft like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.

Longer-term, the aircraft are designed for a future with fewer pilots, potentially with remote pilots supporting multiple aircraft, similar to autonomous vehicle operators. Autonomy is expected to first emerge in cargo flights due to lower stakes, eventually making its way into passenger aircraft.

The benefits of this future include:

• Less noise and vibration.
• More frequent and cheaper flights.
• Increased accessibility to neighborhood airports.

Hart Aerospace's decision to build in Los Angeles is strategic, leveraging the region's historical ties to aviation and the burgeoning new space ecosystem.

The First Flight

After seven years of dedicated work, Hart Aerospace's first flight of the largest electric airplane in the world took place on Wednesday, August 12th, in Plattsburgh, New York. For Porceland, seeing the aircraft taxiing down the runway was a surreal and emotional moment, a culmination of years of imagining this achievement.

Advice for Aspiring Founders

Porceland advises that he wouldn't start a company just to be a founder, but rather because he's passionate about solving a problem. He believes in building solutions that offer lower emissions, lower costs, and a better quality of life. His approach is to be a "good duck," knowing a little about swimming, flying, and walking, which helps him identify and collaborate with truly great talent.