Eviation's all-electric prototype is seen Monday at the 53th international Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, North of Paris. Photo by Eco Clement/UPI | License Photo
Posted on 06/18/2019 10:42:18 AM PDT by Red Badger
June 18 (UPI) -- Israeli start-up Eviation showed off its all-electric airliner Tuesday at the Paris Air Show, and said a U.S. carrier has already made an order.
Company CEO Omer Bar-Yohay said the plane, called Alice, is the first of its kind in the world.
"The first all-electric commuter aircraft in the world, and it's out here ready and waiting," he told reporters.
Eviation displayed a prototype of the nine-seat plane at Paris' Le Bourget Airport. It's designed to fly as fast as 650 miles per hour and has a cruise speed of 276 miles per hour. The goal, Eviation said, is not to replace long-haul commercial air travel, but capture a growing market of short-distance flyers.
The plane has a list price of about $4 million each, which is far cheaper than conventional jet-powered airliners, and roughly 900 kilowatts of power split by three MagniX engines.
MagniX CEO Roei Ganzarski told CNBC it was "exciting to see a dream come true."
The company said Cape Air, one of the largest independent U.S. regional carriers, has already placed an order. After test flights this year, the plane is expected to receive certification by 2021 and deliver by 2022.
Eviation's all-electric prototype is seen Monday at the 53th international Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, North of Paris. Photo by Eco Clement/UPI | License Photo
Looks interesting. I don’t see the solar panels though.
Is it going to have to land and recharge the battery every 58 miles or does it use a towed solar array?
Did they fly it there?
Wingtip props mean if one fails, you MUST turnoff the other and rely only on the tail pusher.
It depends on the altitude of emergency onset but with just the tail it's likely the ONLY goal would then be to set down somewhere safe immediately.
Do electric planes have some future?
Yes, I think so.
How good is it at GLIDING?
I agree that electric airplanes might have a future but have a hard time believing the battery technology exists. At least not hauling one ton the distance of 650 miles. Curious if other Freepers might have an insight.
It's nuclear...
Most flying lessons are local. They last about 1 hour.
For that? Yes, now electric planes might be okay.
Another app might be hybrid:
Tons of small airports suffer from noise complaints. What future pilots might do is get the engine warmed up and checked out, then rely for 2 minutes or so on electric for take-off, then switch to gas at a certain altitude.
For long flights, like city to city?
Wow, I don’t forsee that any time soon. I wouldn’t do it.
THAT is a relevant question, and I suspect the answer may be NO...Still, has nice lines, and if anyone can pull it off, I’m guessing the Israelis can...Remains to be seen...
From the Eviation “Alice” website, some specs:
Seats 9 PAX (9+2)
Cabin Pressurized
Cruise altitude 10,000’
Cruise speed 260 knots
Range + IFR reserve 650 miles
Energy pack Li-lon - 900 kWh
Service ceiling 30,000’
VNE 340 knots
Approach speed 100 knots
Length 12.2m
Wingspan 16.12m
MTOW6,350 kg
Powerplant 3X 260kW
Batteries not included.
So dissembling required.
What makes it so expensive to
operate is mid-air recharging.
Is it going to have to land and recharge the battery every 58 miles or does it use a towed solar array?
Will batteries of electric plane perform satisfactorily in cold weather? Or is this a hybrid plane?
I remember complaints that some electric cars wouldn’t budge when temperatures dropped last winter.
Too small scale
What you need is a huge ground effect plane. The larger the plane, the smaller the proportion of the load for batteries.
I did the calcs a few years ago. You could run a large aircraft, capable of carrying 1000 pax or 150 tons of cargo from SF to LA at approximately 250 mph, all electric, using currently available technology. Ground effect aircraft similar to Boeing Pelican concept. Operating offshore in established lanes.
Quicker than any bullet train at 1/10th the cost.
Hardly big enough to be called an airliner
gaijin wrote: “Another app might be hybrid: Tons of small airports suffer from noise complaints. What future pilots might do is get the engine warmed up and checked out, then rely for 2 minutes or so on electric for take-off, then switch to gas at a certain altitude.”
Propellers make noise too.
Sumpin' doesn't look right about the specs. Even so, and even if the range is only 33% of the above, it's pretty good for only about $100 worth of electricity .
Oh puhleez
“Quicker than any bullet train at 1/10th the cost.”
The Democrats will fix that problem by building a coast-to-coast canal for these craft at a cost of a mere $20 to $30 trillion dollars.
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