With electric cars a growing reality on the ground, a small Aussie tech company has joined the global race to take the technology to the skies so people can zip around in electric-powered planes.

Queensland-based magniX is weeks away from testing the first high power density electric motor to be designed and built in Australia, a prototype the company hopes to use in light aircraft within a few years.

Rendering of a magniX electric engine. Credit:magniX

While aviation electric motors are still in their infancy, they have the ability to slash greenhouse gas emissions emitted by aircraft and halve the $200 billion fuel bill for the world's airlines.

"There's a real push towards electrification and using air travel as a way of transporting things or people from A to B as cities become larger and more congested," managing director Jason Chaffey told AAP on Monday.