The linked article's final paragraph mentions
a different aircraft (or different optional hybrid power system) - EcoPulse. In passing, it should be noted that many large ships (E.G. RMS Queen Mary 2) now use "distributed power" - diesel or turbine-powered generators produce electric power to drive the actual electric motors attached to the props.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integr...ric_propulsion
As to the change to a tailwheel - probably to protect the pusher-prop (as noted, it was a bit exposed to a prop-strike in the tricycle configuration).
But for those wondering about where the nose wheel would have fitted in the original: Pilots have been stepping over a
hump between the cockpit seats since the DC-3 and B-17 - it's called a
control pedestal. Check that original shiny-floor mockup and you'll see the nose-wheel would have retracted right between the pilots. And in an electric plane, the throttles are probably simple rheostats - the pedestal will be mostly empty space with minimal levers and such inside. Tuck the wheel right in there.