WASHINGTON - A number of companies are working on electric manned aircraft, but at present, things are very limited. The energy needed to move large planes is just too much for current battery technology to store, except for short flights. As the technology improves, we may eventually see electric aircraft carrying large numbers of passengers or large volumes of cargo over long distances. So, most of us think electric aviation is something that only exists in the future tense, Jennifer Sensiba writes for CleanTechnica. Continue reading original article.
The Intelligent Aerospace take:
December 10, 2020 -While Sensiba writes mainly of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in her piece about electric flight, there are many companies in the industry working towards electric passenger flight. Larry Page (of Google fame) is backing Kitty Hawk, which has taken to the skies with its electric vertical takeoff and landing Heaviside, which the company says is capable of flying 100 miles. Ampair's Electic EEL recently completed a demonstration flight in Hawaii. The EEL is a retrofitted Cessna Skymaster made to fly with hybrid-electric propulsion.
“The Cessna 337 modification is a first step," said Ampair CEO Kevin Noertker. "The next may be a hybrid or fully electric retrofit of a nine- to 19-passenger commuter/cargo aircraft. As batteries and powertrains mature, we will shift our focus to clean-sheet designs such as our nine-passenger, zero-emissions Tailwind concept. By that time, we will have established strong cash-flow from retrofit programs as well as engineering and certification expertise that will earn the confidence of investors, partners, aircraft operators, and regulators.”
Related: Largest hybrid electric plane set to take flight
Related: Kitty Hawk says its third electric aircraft has a 100-mile range
Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
