90-seat Elysian airliner: 800-1,000-km range on batteries alone

New Atlas ^ | January 11, 2024 | By Loz Blain

[Red Badger]

Elysian says the world is vastly underestimating the capabilities of battery-electric airlinersElysian Aircraft

A Dutch startup says everyone's hugely underestimating the potential of battery-electric aircraft – that it's possible to build large battery-electric airliners covering distances most assume we'll need hydrogen for. Elysian plans to prove it.

The company doesn't believe it'll need some giant leap in batteries to do it, either; it says it can take 90 passengers some 800 km (497 miles) using a pack with 360 Wh/kg. Amprius, meanwhile, was shipping 450-Wh/kg cells back in 2022, and Chinese giant CATL launched a 500-Wh/kg "condensed" battery last year. Assuming some improvements, Elysian says it'll hit 1,000-km (621-mile) range figures, at which point the E9X aircraft could feasibly cover around 50% of all scheduled commercial flights.

It's quite a leap from the conventional thinking, which assumes that batteries are far too heavy to build airliners around, and really only suitable for small aircraft flying sub-400-km (250-mile) routes. Indeed, most of the action in clean aviation over the last several years has been in the gaseous hydrogen space, with liquid hydrogen a few years behind that and other solutions like ammonia popping up around the fringes.

[trebb]

I hope it glides well.....

[Ex-Con777]

Current regulations require enough fuel to fly to the destination, then to an alternate airport, then 45 minutes further. That’s the Reader’s Digest version. It is more involved than that depending on weather.

Let’s spitball this with the purported range of 500 miles.
- We have to assume a speed. My guess, with 45 years in the industry, is 230 knots or 265 mph
- A 45 minute reserve would equal 200 miles.
- An alternate airport is usually 50-100 miles away in a metropolitan area. Split the difference and call it 75
- this leaves a maximum destination range of 225 miles, a 50 minute flight or about a 4 hour drive in your EV

Here’s your choice:

Drive to the airport 2 hours ahead of departure, get groped by TSA, fly, deplane, wait for your damaged bag, ride in an EV to your final destination. Total time 4+ hours.

Or

Drive your EV to the destination. Total time 4 hours.

Choices, choices.

EC

[DuncanWaring]

This is ludicrous on the face of it.

Jet fuel (kerosene) contains roughly 20000 BTU/lb.

There are roughly 3500 BTU/kWh.

This works out to 6 kWh/lb, or 13 kWh/kg of jet fuel.

These guys batteries, best case as claimed in the article, are 0.5 kWh per kg.

This means that to replace 1 lb of jet fuel they need roughly 25 lbs of battery.

Feel free to check my math.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Looks like a concept designed not to carry passengers in commercial service but to secure massive Federal subsidies for the company.

[EVO X]

This think would make one trip, then be on the ground for multiple hours to recharge. No profit.

Ditto. Planes don't make money sitting on the ground. If we give the vaporware plane the benefit of the doubt that it would be able to recharge in 45 minutes, the range isn't all that useful. Regional jets are capable of flying a couple thousand miles plus. They may start the morning in central Illinois, fly all over the country and park for the night back in central Illinois.

[bantam]

Someone else can go first, I’ll wait to see how it goes.
I assume flight is gonnabe further than out to my mailbox!

[mo]

bingo!!

[Vermont Lt]

I am not getting on one any time soon. That said, having lived under the approach of an airport for 30 years, and a B52 base as a kid…the thought of “quiet” aircraft is appealing.

[Delta 21]

Yeah, you know, because batteries weigh hardly anything at all.

[moovova]

[Noumenon]

Oh, yeah. I’ll jump right on that.

[BipolarBob]

I want the nuclear powered one like Jules Verne wrote about in “20,000 leagues over the seas”.

[guest7]

"Who wants rechargeable planes? Fly Norelco, eh, no thanks."

Too save weight; no pilots, no flight attendants, so bring your own lunch.

Have a nice trip.

[guest7]

" Pilots declare mayday fuel and are given a straight in approach..."

"...straight in approach...". Actually, when declaring an emergency; all traffic is cleared; you are asked what your intentions are; (where do you want to land that Roman Candle?); how many souls on board; how much fuel on board.

You can even do an "Indianna Jones"; and land on a taxiway.

[Seaplaner]

Looks and sounds like a black hole for OPM (other peoples’ money). Unlimited government subsidies to feed the coffers of the “connected”.

Yup.

No sense letting the California High Speed Rail be the only successful Big Con, travelwise.

[zeugma]

And when it catches fire in mid-air flight... Will they provide parachutes, or are they an extra charge?

It really won't matter. Have you seen how fast lithium batteries combust? You wouldn't have time to exit the plane.

[EVO X]

OK I agree. If an airline pilot calls mayday fuel, that causes other airlines to burn more fuel to give the mayday plane priority to get on the ground. The point I was trying to make is this is an issue for short range EV planes..

[Doctor DNA]

These planes could be recharged by flying through normally charged clouds - dont need lightning bolts for regular charging just during supercharging.

[Clay Moore]

Somebody’s going to have to go back and get a ****load of D cells.

[Joe Boucher]

If you look at very large cruise ships, what a pain in the ass boarding and unboarding. Then they stop at small ports unable to properly handle 3000 goobers wandering around.
Then baggage claim?
What a pain.
Heck it is usually a circus boarding a jet with 100 folks