Race to build first electric passenger aircraft takes to skies

The race to develop the first electrically powered and autonomous commercial passenger aircraft is accelerating after Boeing Thursday announced plans to acquire cutting edge aviation research partner, Aurora Flight Sciences, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition of the small Virginia-based company, which last year won an US$89m Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency contract to develop an unmanned hybrid electric test aircraft, comes as Boeing steps up its focus on future aviation technologies. Boeing earlier this year set up Horizon X, a venture capital arm designed to invest in disruptive innovation. One of its first investments was Zunum Aero, a start-up that aims to develop the world’s first commercial hybrid electric-powered passenger aircraft. <br/>