ANN ARBOR – As transportation electrification accelerates, batteries have become the central technology reshaping everything from electric vehicles rolling off Michigan assembly lines to experimental aircraft preparing for first flight. While the automotive electric vehicle battery market continues to explode in size, a quieter — but strategically important — opportunity is emerging in aircraft batteries.
Global demand for aircraft batteries is projected to nearly double over the next decade, growing from roughly $1.4 billion today to nearly $3 billion by 2034 as aviation adopts more-electric architectures, hybrid propulsion systems, and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. That growth is modest compared with the automotive EV battery market, which analysts expect to exceed $600 billion globally in the same timeframe.
But industry experts say size alone misses the point.
“Aircraft batteries are not a volume business like EV batteries,” said Mark Ellis, an aerospace electrification analyst based in the Midwest. “They’re a precision business. And that plays directly to Michigan’s strengths.”
Two Battery Markets, Two Very Different Rules
Automotive batteries are driven by scale, cost reduction, and speed. Gigafactories, federal incentives, and global competition dominate the landscape as automakers race to electrify fleets and bring down per-kilowatt-hour costs.
Aircraft batteries operate under an entirely different set of constraints.
In aviation, batteries power engine starts, auxiliary systems, emergency backup, and increasingly hybrid-electric propulsion. Weight savings, thermal stability, redundancy, and certification are paramount — often at the expense of cost or volume.
“Aviation batteries don’t get to fail gracefully,” said Dr. Lena Hoffman, a battery materials researcher who works with aerospace suppliers. “They must perform under extreme conditions, every time, with no margin for error.”
This difference explains why automotive battery production can scale rapidly, while aircraft battery adoption moves deliberately — governed by safety validation and regulatory timelines.
Where Michigan Fits — Especially for Aerospace Suppliers and Startups
Michigan’s role in battery innovation goes far beyond EV assembly lines. For aerospace suppliers and mobility startups, the state’s advantage lies in systems engineering, safety culture, and certification-ready design.
Rather than competing to manufacture commodity battery cells, Michigan companies are well positioned to supply the high-value layers aviation depends on:
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Battery management systems (BMS) with aviation-grade redundancy
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Thermal management and fire-containment technologies
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Lightweight enclosures and structural integration
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Power electronics and energy distribution
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Testing, validation, and certification services
“Michigan doesn’t need to outproduce Asia in battery cells,” Ellis said. “It needs to solve the hardest integration and safety problems. That’s where the real value is in aerospace.”eVTOLs and Hybrid Aircraft: A Near-Term Opening
Fully electric commercial jets remain years away, but eVTOL aircraft and hybrid platforms are advancing much faster — creating an entry point for startups and Tier-2 suppliers.
These programs favor:
Smaller production runs
Faster design iteration
Openness to nontraditional suppliers
Heavy reliance on batteries, software, and controls
Michigan mobility startups, many with roots in automotive electrification, are well suited to this phase of aviation’s transition.
“The same engineers who design battery packs for vehicles understand power management, safety-by-design, and systems integration,” Hoffman said. “Those skills translate surprisingly well to aviation.”
Automotive Scale as a Proving Ground, Aviation as the Prize
A common pathway is emerging across advanced mobility:
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Technologies are developed in research labs
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Proven in automotive or off-road vehicle deployments
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Adapted and certified for aviation programs
Michigan uniquely supports this progression, using automotive scale to validate durability and performance before moving into aerospace, where margins are higher and supplier relationships are far stickier.
Once qualified, aviation battery suppliers often remain embedded for decades, not model years.
“Aerospace doesn’t switch suppliers lightly,” Ellis said. “That makes it a long game — but a defensible one.”
Big Picture: Niche vs. Mass Market
Market Aircraft Batteries Automotive EV Batteries Current Market Size ~$1.4B ~$66B+ 10-Year Outlook ~$3B ~$600B+ Growth Driver Aviation electrification EV adoption & regulation Production Scale Low volume, high spec Massive global scale Michigan Advantage Systems & safety Manufacturing scale
Bottom Line for Michigan’s Mobility Economy
Aircraft batteries will never rival automotive batteries in size. But they don’t need to.
For Michigan’s aerospace suppliers and mobility startups, aircraft batteries represent a high-barrier, high-value extension of the state’s EV expertise — one where trust, engineering depth, and certification readiness matter more than sheer scale.
As electrification reshapes transportation on land and in the air, Michigan’s opportunity is clear: build the systems others rely on — and the batteries that must never fail.
