Electric airplanes are one step closer to becoming a reality

While electric vehicles are gaining popularity in the automotive world, the aviation industry is also looking into ways to clean up its act. French firm Airbus is best known for its large passenger jets–including the double-deck Airbus A380–but its latest project is rather smaller. The E-FAN is a small experimental aircraft, powered entirely by electricity. It’s small, much quieter than a typical combustion-engined light aircraft, and could cut the cost of an hour-long flight from around $55 to just $16.