New 100kW superconducting motor paves way for future electric propulsion aircraft
Researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow have developed and demonstrated a 100kW fully superconducting aviation motor.
This prototype could make lightweight, high-power electric propulsion a reality for future commercial aircraft.
The motor achieves a power density that conventional electric motors simply cannot match, thanks to specialized materials that exhibit zero electrical resistance when frozen.
When cooled to an ultracold 20 Kelvin (K) (-253°C or -423F), the motor’s specialized materials lose virtually all electrical resistance. This means that a small engine can handle immense power loads without generating wasteful heat.
Temperature challenge
Commercial flight faces a strict weight trap that standard electric motors cannot escape.
Standard jet engines deliver far more power for their weight than conventional electric motors can manage, largely because standard copper wiring becomes prohibitively heavy and dangerously overheats when pushed to its limits.
Superconducting motors overcome this technological barrier, standing as the only known innovation capable of delivering the immense power-to-weight ratio required to lift a commercial passenger plane off the ground.
“Superconducting technology offers a route to much lighter and more efficient propulsion systems, but it also brings major engineering challenges in cryogenic cooling, protection and system integration,” said Professor Min Zhang, who leads the ASL at Strathclyde.
A superconducting axial-flux aviation motor is an electric motor that uses cryogenically cooled materials to eliminate electrical resistance.
Though labeled “high temperature,” the motor’s superconducting tape still requires cryogenic cooling to between 20K and 77K.
However, this is a massive engineering victory, as it operates at significantly higher temperatures than conventional superconductors, which require extreme liquid helium cooling at 4K.
Prototype requirement
To turn this physics quirk into a working prototype, the Strathclyde team had to solve the gap between fundamental superconductor research, cryogenic engineering, and mechanical system integration.
The multidisciplinary team successfully condensed complex physics into a single working machine.
The prototype was integrated with low-loss superconducting windings, a novel brushless starting mechanism, and internal cryogenic cooling that functions while spinning. This combined technology proved that a fully superconducting motor architecture can operate as a unified, real-world platform.
This temperature shift changes everything for aerospace giant Airbus, which backed the project under its ZEST1 (Zero Emissions for Sustainable Transport) program.
The zero-emission race
Airbus is betting on liquid hydrogen to fuel its future zero-emission fleet. Liquid hydrogen must be stored on board at extremely low temperatures, allowing it to serve a dual purpose. It acts as the fuel for the plane while simultaneously serving as the coolant for the superconducting motor.
“This demonstrator shows that fully superconducting aviation motors are no longer just a theoretical concept,” said Professor Zhang.
Apart from Airbus, several other companies like Hinetics, the U.K.’s HyFlux, and giants like Toshiba and Raytheon are racing to build ultra-efficient, high-power-density motors using high-temperature superconductors
The aviation industry accounts for roughly 2.5 percent of global CO2 emissions. While a 100kW motor is far too small to lift a commercial airliner, the Strathclyde team views this success as the definitive proof of concept. The underlying physics works.
This leap in power density is exactly what future hydrogen-electric and fully electric aircraft need to finally get off the ground. The next step is scaling this architecture up to megawatt-class superconducting systems for larger commercial aircraft.
