“How heavy is the battery? How much energy needs to be expended just to lift and transport that one part of the plane?”
Plane weights remain same. for ease of recertification.
I don’t think so. A turbine aircraft engine is not that heavy. Batteries are. The aircrafts max weight doesn’t change as that is limited by structural design. So whatever weight goes into batteries comes out of available cargo or passenger weight. The caravans I fly can haul 17 passengers at 200lbs each and myself. The article stated something about this electric version being 8 passengers. That’s a big capacity hit.