NASA is on track to start systems ground testing of the X-57 Maxwell, the agency's first all-electric X-plane, by year-end, paving the way for flight tests beginning sometime in the third quarter of 2020. The goal of the demonstrator is to show that an aircraft modified with a distributed electric propulsion (DEP) system and optimized wing will use a fifth of the energy in cruise compared to the baseline piston-powered design. The program, which is based on a converted Tecnam P2006T light twin, is also helping to pioneer new design, test and certification standards for an upcoming generation of electric aircraft.
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