Electric airplanes

[neroden]

We may see commercial service (on *really* short hops) by 2022.

Canadian Seaplane Service Wants to Fly All-Electric Planes Within 3 Years

I've been telling people this is coming fast...

 

[Cosmacelf]

A Beaver can travel at about 100 mph depending on wind direction, so 30 minutes of runtime is about 50 miles. Not horrible for a fixed delivery route in remote areas, but not great either. But, in three years, range should be up quite a bit. In fact, if battery capacity increases by 50%, range should double (since the emergency reserve capacity stays the same).

 

[mblakele]

The second half of this article covers pure electric and hybrid aircraft.

The Economist | The jet set

Just how far electrification can be pushed is unclear. Airbus seems to think it could be quite a long way. It has teamed up with Rolls-Royce and Siemens to electrify an example of a 100-seater regional aircraft called the bae146. This project is intriguing, not least because the plane is not even a propeller aircraft to start with. It is powered by turbofans.​

 

[Merle]

IFR reserve is for 45 min of flight, so good luck there.

Presuming you’re flying at 120 mph (to make the math simple) you’ll have to have enough “fuel” capacity to go +90 miles to satiate the FAA.

The batteries are also a lot heavier than the engine plus fuel. 36 lbs (6 gallons) can get you 120 miles (to make the math easy). That means a 450 lbs engine with 360 lbs of fuel (15 mpg planned) is going to go 900 miles before you start to worry too much.

You’re simply not going to have the range with a battery driven prop plane unless a few things change.

 

[iMoe]

Commercial VFR service exists and VFR reserves in Canada is 30 minutes Canadian Aviation Regulations
I assume FAA is similar but no time to check.

According to this article they plan to do 30 minute trips plus 30 minute reserves: Harbour Air to add zero-emission electric plane; aims to convert whole fleet

 

[Merle]

Looks like the same requirements between Canada and US VFR requirements, 30 minutes (day / night), but if I were running a commercial operation - I'd definitely try to make sure that I could get my equipment back before the soup sets in!

For flight schools, EV in the air could make absolute sense as most of it is VFR or the PIC operating under the hood in VFR conditions.

 

[mblakele]

The Economist | Orcadian rhythm
https://www.economist.com/node/21768189

Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair’s boss, says he is sceptical of attempts to put electric engines on big planes, but “with the Islander we are confident and comfortable that it does work, that this is a technically feasible solution.” Moreover, Orkney’s inter-island flights are short enough for range anxiety to not be a big concern. The longest trip, from Kirkwall to North Ronaldsay, is no more than 20 minutes. Indeed, electric planes could make small, short routes such as these more economically viable, and therefore more common.​

 

[DMC-Orangeville]

Test flight for Harbour Air eplane in British Columbia, on December 10
Karin Larsen on Twitter