Very nice looking. How far can it go before it has to recharge? I find it hard to believe that electric aircraft will ever be anything more than local commuter and air taxi services.
Alice’s spec sheet has become a fair bit less impressive over the last year or so as well – when we looked at it in May 2021, this nine-seat luxury machine was running an interesting three-prop propulsion system and a V-tail, and promising 506-mile (814 km) flights to a charge. Now, the tail’s a T-shape, there are just two props, the claimed range has dwindled to just 288 miles (463 km), and the max takeoff weight (MTOW) has burgeoned from 14,700 lb (6,668 kg) to 18,400 lb (8,346 kg). On the positive side, the max speed is now up from 253 mph (407 km/h) to 299 mph (481 km/h).
“local commuter and air taxi service”.
At this stage, that’s pretty much all that’s aspired to. Reserve capacity, as is required of all certificated transports, is an issue. The issue that concerns me most is the possibility of a battery pack fire. Often times, an enroute mechanical or electrical issue in a turbine aircraft leads to an unscheduled landing, but no true emergency. On the contrary, a battery pack fire will lead to a lost aircraft and fatalities every single time. Be my guest.
“I find it hard to believe that electric aircraft will ever be anything more than local commuter and air taxi services.”
And while I hate EVs in general, for niches I don’t have a problem.
I read 80 miles. and then charging takes 3 hours.
Same here, but if it fills that niche, more power to them.
“local commuter and air taxi services”
That’s all I see, too. And what are the benefits? Fewer engine overhauls, far less complex engine with no moving parts. You still need to power aux loads like AC.
I find it hard to believe that lithium batteries will ever be safe enough for this application.
Hydrocarbon fuels store 13 times more energy per pound than batteries. That value is not changing much through R&D, either.
Ok, fine, but lets stop calling electric transportation zero emissions or carbon free. THE ELECTRICITY USED TO CHARGE THE BATTERIES COMES FROM FOSSIL FUELS!