Just as some hybrid cars move at low speeds solely on electricity, Boeing 737s can be made to do the same, reducing fuel burn and emissions, according to a company called WheelTug.

WheeltugAn electric motor system can drive a plane to and from the airport gate, reducing fuel emissions.

On Monday, the company announced a tentative deal to equip 20 jets of the Israeli carrier El Al with a motor system that eliminates the need for a tug to pull the plane away from the airport gate.

The company sells a pair of electric motors embedded in the aircraft’s nose wheel that can be used to back the plane away from the gate, eliminating “pushback,” and then enable it to taxi out to the runway at a speed of up to 28 miles per hour.

The motors in the nosewheel run off electricity from a small engine in the back of the plane called the auxiliary power unit, which is generally used to keep the lights on and keep the plane ventilated when the main engines are turned off.

Isaiah W. Cox, the company’s chief executive, said the savings come from not having to use one or both of the main engines to taxi; each of those burns about 13 pounds of fuel per minute, or about two gallons. The auxiliary power unit burns about 4 pounds per minute, or a little more than half a gallon. In most cases, the auxiliary power unit is running anyway, he said.

Planes can leave the gate faster if they do not have to wait for a tug. The company says that engines will sustain less damage by running less when the plane is on the ground. In taxiing, planes sometimes suck in foreign objects that damage engine blades.

Airports are often major sources of air pollution, and reducing the use of diesel-powered tugs could help reduce that as well, experts say.

Work on the system began in 1994, and the concept was tested extensively last winter at the airport in Prague. The company, which is based in Gibraltar, hopes to get certification from European and American aviation regulators in early 2013.

To lure the airlines, which are often reluctant to accept new technology, WheelTug is offering to lease the equipment and split the savings. The fuel savings will easily pay for the lease, and the savings in reduced time on the ground and less engine damage will be obvious as months go by, the company says.

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