Application and Performance Trends of Electric Motors for Aircraft Propulsion

The aircraft electrification is considered as a promising solution to reduce emissions from the aviation sector. This paper presents an overview of the enabling electric motor technologies for electrically propelled aircraft. The data are a collection of available information in the technical literature, including current applications, projects, and prototyped demonstrators. This critical analysis is conducted in the perspective of the most used technologies, cooling solutions and key performance indexes, such as specific power and rated speed. Finally, values for performance projections are discussed along with emerging technologies in electrical machines to enable a higher degree of electrifications for air transportation.