In the March 2019 issue of Flying magazine, aerodynamicist Peter Garrison discusses the feasibility of electric airliners. He says he's long been skeptical this would be possible, barring an unexpected revolution in battery technology. However in an even-handed fashion he reviews the challenges and progress to date. He discusses two current electric regional aircraft projects, Eviation and Zunum.
It's a stretch to call Eviation an "airliner", it's about the size/weight of a Pilatus PC12. They will supposedly be displaying a prototype (don't know if it's flyable) in June of this year. Zunum uses ducted fans, but is so far only a paper airplane.
The backers of these are not attempting to replace traditional airliners, not even smaller regional jets. They understand battery limitations make that impossible. Rather they are hoping to open a new market for short range low cost air taxi service to smaller airports using 8-10 passenger planes. In essence a similar market and service profile to what VLJs originally planned, notably as promoted by the Eclipse 500. Except the electric planes so far under development will have a range of maybe 600 miles, and Garrison doubts that will be achievable on actual aircraft.