At the recent Paris Air Show, European jetmaker Airbus demonstrated an A320 airliner equipped with electric motors for taxiing, a technology that the company said is “showing the way for the increasingly electric future of aviation.”

The Electric Green Taxiing System (EGTS) was developed by EGTS International, a joint venture of Safran and Honeywell. One wheel on each of the main landing gear assemblies is equipped with an electric motor, reduction gearbox and clutch assembly to drive the aircraft during taxi operations, with power electronics and system controllers allowing pilots to control its speed and direction.

The EGTS is powered by the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit generator, allowing the aircraft to move around the tarmac without using its main engines. Airbus says that this will reduce fuel consumption by up to 4% per flight cycle.

There was no word on when, or whether, the system would be made commercially available.

Source: Airbus via Green Car Congress