NASA working on more efficient, electric-powered plane

NASA has been reportedly working on an experimental plane, whose wings have been attached with 18 propellers in a bid to make a more-efficient, electric-powered craft.

NASA has attached 18 small engines to the plane's 31-feet wingspan, which is a part of their Leading Edge Asynchronous Propellers Technology (LEAPTech) project that work together to provide lift and propel it forward, The Verge reported.

Each electric propeller, which may be operated independently at different speeds to optimise power, has been powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries. NASA would ground test the wings over next several months, during which the wings would be mounted to a modified truck called the Hybrid-Electric Integrated Systems Testbed (HEIST), which would drive up to 70 mph across a dry lakebed in California, though the final planned closing speed would be 200 mph with a maximum electric-powered reach of 230 mph. 

Researchers believe that the improved LEAPTech wing could be used to create a new 'environmentally' and 'economically' efficient X-plane, the report added.