GE Aerospace said Monday that it completed ground testing of a hybrid electric turbofan engine system intended for narrowbody aircraft.
Testing was conducted in 2025 at the company’s Peebles Test Operation in Ohio using a modified Passport engine. The tests were part of NASA’s Turbofan Engine Power Extraction Demonstration project.
The test evaluated power transfer, extraction and injection while examining how electric components integrate with a high-bypass turbofan engine.
“Turbines already exist,” said NASA Glenn HyTEC project manager Anthony Nerone. “Compressors already exist. But there is no hybrid-electric engine flying today. And that’s what we were able to see.”
GE Aerospace said the work is intended to inform future hybrid electric turbofan architectures that embed motor-generators within a gas turbine and can operate with or without onboard energy storage.
“Hybrid electric propulsion is central to how GE Aerospace is redefining the future of flight,” said Arjan Hegeman, vice president of future of flight for GE Aerospace. “Our latest milestone successfully demonstrated a narrowbody hybrid electric engine architecture that doesn’t require energy storage to operate.”
The company said the hybrid electric turbofan test results met or exceeded technical performance benchmarks established by NASA related to fuel efficiency and power requirements for future aircraft. The demonstration is one of several hybrid and more-electric propulsion efforts being pursued under CFM International’s RISE technology program, a joint initiative led by CFM International, which is jointly owned by GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines.
“It’s a critical step to making hybrid electric flight a reality for commercial aviation with technologies that meet customer needs for greater efficiency, durability, and range,” Hegeman said.
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