Engineering over hype: Elysian's bold bet on 90-seat battery-powered flight
While competitors rush to demonstrate small electric aircraft, the Dutch startup is taking a slower, smarter approach to building a 90-seat battery-powered aircraft.
At this year's Paris Air Show, Elysian Aircraft offered a vision of electric aviation grounded in long-term engineering discipline. The Dutch startup, now two years into its journey, is pursuing what it calls the first large-scale battery-electric aircraft with capacity for 90 passengers and a range of 700 to 800 kilometres.
With a growing team of around 30, new facilities at the Fokker Services site near Schiphol, and collaborations spanning Transavia, KLM, TU Delft and CE Delft, Elysian is positioning itself as one of the more structured efforts in Europe's clean aviation landscape.
Aircraft designed for the mission
From the start, Elysian’s design team has prioritised scale. While many battery-electric aircraft focus on smaller 6–19 seat formats, Elysian believes a clean-sheet 90-seater optimised for regional routes offers better economics and a more meaningful climate impact.
Speaking at an Elysian event at the Paris Aeroclub, Co-CEO Daniel Rosen Jacobson noted that around 50% of all global flights are under 1,000 kilometres, a segment responsible for one-fifth of aviation's CO2 emissions.
"With a properly designed large electric aircraft, you can offer zero-emission flights while keeping fares competitive on dense short-haul routes," he said.
The E9X concept includes:
Batteries distributed across a high-aspect ratio wing (42 metres) for structural efficiency
Eight electric motors with folding wingtips for airport compatibility
A backup energy system (a small turbine) for reserve power and regulatory compliance. Elysian says that this is a ‘safety mechanism’, that it intends hardly ever to be used, but could be if, for example, there is a need to divert to alternative airports.
The distributed battery approach serves multiple purposes beyond energy storage. By placing the load where the lift is generated, Elysian says it can reduce the wing’s structural weight while achieving the high aspect ratio necessary for efficient cruise performance at the aircraft’s target speed.
Research validates environmental and efficiency claims
Elysian's methodical approach extends to validating their environmental claims through independent research. A lifecycle analysis commissioned from CE Delft says that battery-electric flight delivers substantial advantages over the alternative pathways.
The study shows that by 2035, battery-electric flight will have the lowest climate impact compared to other aviation solutions, while proving three times more energy-efficient than hydrogen alternatives.
With a fully green electricity grid, the study found that battery-electric flight achieves a climate footprint comparable to an electric car carrying four passengers or a train.
A methodical approach to a complex goal
Rather than rushing to a flight-ready prototype, Elysian is midway through what Director of Design and Engineering Dr. Reynard de Vries describes as a multi-phase development process.
The first iteration of the aircraft design, mainly based on academic modelling, has now been followed by two years of targeted research to validate performance assumptions around weight, structure, and propulsion. The next step is to test key subsystems independently.
"We're not making a full-scale demonstrator anytime soon," says de Vries. "That's a very expensive endeavour, and it doesn't answer the questions that really matter at this stage. We're focused on learning as fast as possible—but in the areas where it counts most."
As a result, Elysian has plotted a longer, more deliberate timeline: subsystem development through 2028; detailed design and certification into the early 2030s; and entry into service by 2033.
Operational partnerships drive real-world design
Beyond technical validation, Elysian has built partnerships with airlines.
A collaboration with KLM and Transavia, announced to coincide with the Paris Air Show, involves regular workshops bringing together pilots, maintenance specialists, network planners, and revenue managers to provide operational input that directly shapes the aircraft's development.
"We have been working with them since almost day one, actually, before Elysian even existed formally," de Vries reveals. "Before we started this whole project, we first went to talk to the airlines." This early airline input proved fundamental to Elysian's design philosophy. "They said, guys, short ranges can be limiting, but if you can make a plane that has lower cost per seat kilometre on short ranges and it is zero emissions, then you've got a business case," de Vries explains. "And so that is also in our design philosophy, in the papers we publish, that's the design objective and everything else follows."
KLM's involvement includes formal advisory board participation, with Jolanda Stevens, Zero Emission Aviation Program Manager, joining Elysian's advisory board.
The airline is also including pilot involvement in the development process. "Pilots understand better than anyone what works and doesn't work in an aircraft," Stevens noted in the partnership announcement. "For instance, having two different energy sources onboard requires an entirely new approach to energy management for the crew. This must be incorporated into the design."
A European project by design
Elysian's founders are deliberately building within Europe, despite the gravitational pull of U.S. markets. "We're seeing a shift," said de Vries. "For the first time, there's political urgency around European competitiveness, not just sustainability. There's growing support at national and EU levels to make sure the capabilities for clean aviation don't all end up overseas."
This shift reflects broader EU concerns about technological sovereignty. As de Vries notes, "The topic of clean aviation had always been sustainability, sustainability, sustainability. This year, I think the first time, it was competitiveness subject to sustainability."
Elysian investor, Panta Holdings, also owns Fokker Services and Fokker Techniek, creating access to experienced engineering networks once central to Dutch aerospace leadership. The relocation to the historic Fokker site provides both symbolic weight and practical advantages, placing Elysian within the established Dutch aviation ecosystem.
Lessons from a sector that's seen setbacks
Elysian's team includes engineers from major OEMs and other electric startups. This combination has shaped a culture wary of overpromising. "It's okay to make a mistake. It means you're learning and you're doing stuff. It's not okay to make the same mistake twice," de Vries says, quoting advice from his head of propulsion. "What we're doing differently is to ask the hard questions early, test what really matters, and avoid theatre."
As a result, the company has deliberately avoided the demonstration flight trap that has tripped up other electric aviation startups.
"We're not going to say, oh, we'll do the first flight in three years, because who are we fooling? It's not going to happen," de Vries states bluntly. "Overpromising will help you in the short term, but it's going to bite you back in the long term."
Timeline as strategic advantage
The 2033 entry-into-service target, while conservative by industry standards, provides crucial runway for battery technology development. The timeline allows for battery improvements that could extend range toward the full 1,000-kilometre capability.
"If we want to have that 2033 service, we need to basically have the PDR [preliminary design review] at 2028," de Vries explains. "That's when we have to freeze the cell technology, we have to freeze the layout of the aircraft. That's why the next three years are going to be very exciting for us, because it's all going to be about figuring out the subsystem demonstrators, figuring out the technology, proving that we can integrate it properly."
In an industry where other electric aviation companies have struggled with overly aggressive timelines, Elysian's methodical approach, backed by independent research validation, serious partnerships, and transparent technical challenges and timelines, may prove that sustainable aviation's future depends less on who flies first and more on who builds to last.