United Airlines Invests In Electric Power Systems

(RTTNews) - United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) announced Friday an investment in Electric Power Systems, a company producing battery technology that can potentially be used for a broad suite of aerospace applications.

Rather than producing battery cells, the company's compatible module technology can be adapted to support a variety of batteries, optimizing performance and safety.

The versatility of the technology could allow United to consider EPS's modules for a number of near-term applications, and as part of its longer-term operations that support decarbonization. This is United's second investment in electric battery technology, after sodium-ion battery-maker Natron.

United is exploring options to move its pilot training academy, Aviate, away from internal combustion-powered training aircraft to electric ones. EPS's powertrain could serve as the core propulsion system for a family of future electric aircraft concepts, starting with an electric trainer and scaling to larger variants as technology advances.

Additionally, United has more than 12,000 pieces of motorized ground equipment across its operations, of which about one third are currently electric.