08.22.24

Cantwell Celebrates Progress Toward Electric-Powered Passenger Planes by Everett-Based magniX

Today, magniX begins next phase of their partnership with NASA to develop practical hybrid battery powered regional airliners

SEATTLE, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) congratulated Everett-based magniX and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for commencing the next phase of their partnership to develop technologies to power hybrid-electric regional aircraft as part of NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project.

“Electric aircraft technologies developed by Everett-based magniX and Seattle-based AeroTEC and tested in Moses Lake represent another promising chapter of aerospace innovation built and made possible in the State of Washington,” said Sen. Cantwell. “This NASA project aims to scale up electric battery technology so it can power passenger planes. Today’s announcement brings us another step closer to enabling cleaner, lower cost, and energy-efficient regional flights that will better connect small and rural communities in Washington and across the nation.”

Today’s ceremony kicks off the next phase of the EPFD project where magniX and NASA will begin to retrofit a 50-passenger De Havilland Dash 7 aircraft with one hybrid-electric propulsion system that combines two magniX electric propulsion units with two conventional combustion engines. magniX expects to begin test flights at the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake in 2026. This NASA project will help create 50 more jobs across magniX’s Everett facility and the Moses Lake testing site. The NASA EPFD project aims to mature electric propulsion systems and enable the next generation of hybrid electric-powered aircraft.

Sen. Cantwell is a longtime proponent of increasing federal support for research and development of sustainable aviation technologies. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Cantwell recently championed the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, which prioritizes investments to enhance Washington state and the nation’s leadership in innovative aviation technologies and continue building a robust aviation research and development ecosystem.

In 2023, Sen. Cantwell celebrated another magniX milestone following Universal Hydrogen’s first successful flight test of a De Havilland Dash-8-300 regional aircraft retrofitted to fly using hydrogen fuel cell and magniX’s electric propulsion technologies in Moses Lake. Several Washington state aviation pioneers, like AeroTEC and Plug Power, were contributing partners.

With an initial use case for smaller aircraft, cost-efficient electric and hydrogen powertrains have the potential to improve connectivity to small and rural communities that need reliable scheduled service to boost their local businesses and economies.

In March 2023, Sen. Cantwell held a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation focused on innovative and sustainable aviation technologies, where she called on her colleagues to triple the budget for FAA’s CLEEN program in order to help bring more emissions cutting aviation technologies to market. At the hearing, Sen. Cantwell also urged Robert Pearce, Associate Administrator of the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, to accelerate progress in the manufacturing of cutting-edge composite materials so aircrafts can incorporate them at a faster rate.  

In 2022, Sen. Cantwell secured $297 million for the Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Low-Emissions Aviation Technology Grant Program, now known as the Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition (FAST) program, which was enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). She also helped author the Sustainable Skies Act, a version of which was included in the IRA, and now provides a tax credit to suppliers of sustainable aviation fuel.

Sen. Cantwell also spearheaded a new NASA program which was included in her historic CHIPS & Science Act that requires NASA to continue research into advanced composite materials manufacturing to build lightweight airplane structures. 

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