World First! THIS Is How You Power Electric Flight!

[@bikecommuter24]

Nice I'm a retired Mechanic with 15 years on Aircraft, After years of being exposed to chemicals and pollutants, listening to ICE, Jet and Turbine engines it must be delightful to listen and work around an Electric Aircraft minus all that previously mentioned nastiness.

[@EugeneLambert]

Great to hear someone with all that experience in fossil-fuel based aviation being so open minded and welcoming to new tech. 👍

[@bikecommuter24]

@@EugeneLambert I avoid all those chemicals after 46 years of being a mechanic they have taken a toll on me.

[@ElectricPlaneGuy]

It's amazing never getting your hands dirty!

[@JBW-Phuket]

This.

[@matt45540]

Flight schools are the optimal usage, short flights, high frequency. And you could even use the charging time to help people get acclimated to the cockpit and doing their checklists.

[@JillesvanGurp]

Right now yes. But those planes are running on five year old technology currently. Not even close to state of the art. That Pipistrel plane has a fairly modest wh/kg ratio. Not even close to state of the art. Doubling or tripling its range is very feasible. 500wh/kg is on the market right now but not in anything that has been certified yet. That just takes time. By the time that happens, the state of the art will have moved on to 750/wh/kg or even kw/kg type ranges. So, mostly this is going to take a lot of people by surprise because they aren't following the battery market. But it's basically going to happen on a fairly predictable schedule. In ten years or so, there will be lots of short haul commercial flight that is battery electric. Long haul is going to take a bit longer but it will come as well.

[@fishyerik]

@@JillesvanGurp The aviation industry is extremely slow to make significant changes, especially to develop new planes, mostly because of extremely strict regulations, but also very low production numbers, compared to for example cars. The Cessna 172 is the worlds most produced aircraft, all categories, ever, and some 44,000 units had been produced a few years ago, since 1955, and it is still in production, so now maybe around 50,000 in total, since 1955. That's less than a thousand units per year on average, even if you discount the few years it wasn't produced. The batteries can be changed, easily, whenever there's better batteries available, and the Velis Electro doesn't use the exact same batteries as when it was first developed, which was mentioned in the video. High energy density is great, but there are other aspects that are important, as safety, longevity and charge/discharge rate. The amprius 500 Wh/kg battery has a life expectancy of 150 cycles, and max continuous charge and discharge rate of 0.1C, meaning, you can't use or charge more than 10% of the capacity per hour. That means for the Velis Electro, to be able to use say 25 kW continuously, they would need to have 250 kWh of capacity, at 500 Wh/kg, that's 500 kg. 500 kg is more than that plane weighs, including currently used batteries, and having 500 kg battery cells, plus packaging, would make the payload capacity negative. In other words, a max 0.1C charge/discharge rate means a plane would have to be designed for at least 10 hours of flight for those batteries to be meaningful, that's ballpark 3 times more range per kg of batteries as the Velis Electro. A plane would have to be huge for a given payload to achieve that, and for commercial use 10 hour charge time would require swapping the batteries instead of charging in the planes, and 2 sets of ultra expensive packs for each plane in operation, one in use and one charging. Batteries are getting better, but on average per year, it's a few percent overall improvement that reach the market, except when some some important factors are sacrificed to reach some absurd specific capability. Super low power density, 120 cycles, and probably absurd cost on top of that, and questionable safety isn't great for aircraft, even with 500 Wh/kg energy density on cell level.

[@robertcowher]

It'd be great to see that take off. I'd like to learn to fly, but I've gotten very used to not burning gas most days, and it just feels wrong to start back as a hobby.

[@darekmistrz4364]

@@JillesvanGurp Its not going to take anyone by a surprise because everyone wants better and better battery tech. Even if we had the technology to produce kw/kg batteries today, it would take years to propagate it to mainstream markets so that everyone can reap the benefits of that tech.

[@jtjames79]

​@@robertcowher You should check out electric paragliders. They're getting really popular really fast.

[@mikeymike1792]

I've done a skydive at Dunkeswell. That little plane was up and down dozens of times a day. If that could be made electric, what a fantastic upgrade it'd be. One day.

[@moonshine3333]

Did my first static jumps there. It was quite funny. The instructors were ex-Royal Marines. One got chatting to my father who was a Para in WW2. The RM suddenly shouted ‘oh s**t’ , vaulted over the fence by the control tower and charged across the DZ to help someone due to land … then! He made it😀

[@t1n4444]

But ... would the charge last that long without a visit to the recharging point?

[@The18107j]

@@t1n4444 It could visit the recharging point every time it lands, dozens of times a day.

[@t1n4444]

@@The18107j Indeed it could.

[@DemPilafian]

I've only jumped out of a plane once, but I definitely remember the noise was an issue. The loud sounds interfere with communication and are unpleasant. An EV plane would make skydiving more enjoyable.

[@janegrassmarket1414]

Some 94 Scottish islands are permanently inhabited, of which 89 are offshore islands. As an alternative to slow ferry trips, short journeys electric flight seems a no brainer to me.

[@siberx4]

There's a definite elegance in having these small electric general aviation planes omit the usual level 2 charger and charge exclusively from DC fast charging. No point in carrying around all that extra weight, especially because these only fly between a small number of purpose-built locations (runways) where installing the charging infrastructure is trivial.

[@klaxoncow]

Ah, don't worry, Robert's used to rough flights from the Starbug in Red Dwarf.

[@martythemartian99]

Shame that going to Red Alert meant changing the bulb. 😁

[@OweEyeSea]

You're about to take off, and you tell your passenger "I've crashed one of these things before"! Probably not the best time for sharing that information.

[@TerryHickey-xt4mf]

I remember a friend in NSW that used to investigate light air craft crashes, and he told me it is not a matter of if, but when. He also hastily added that most crashes are not that horrendous. He was also a pilot. and I think he still is. ( I hope ) 😃

[@grahamcollins6810]

Reminds me of the 1st and 2nd Gen EVs (cars) - getting there, but not quite there for mainstream yet. Give it a few years with these trail blazers, and electric powered flight will become commonplace. Great Stuff!

[@robertcowher]

Yep. I still remember my 1st gen LEAF, charging all night and then making a pit stop on the way to work to charge more, and it still felt like a futuristic space car. Now I've got a Bolt, and it still hits me sometimes when I see 81 miles of range, because that used to be the "max" number in the old days. Looking forward to seeing where this all goes.

[@charleswillcock3235]

Someone in the know a few years ago predicted in 2040 large planes would have electric engines. 16 years from now doesn't seem impossible.

[@gill7087]

I’m thinking that solid state will be the future of ultra lights like the Pipistrel. I owned a Jabiru J200 for 15 years and the idea of almost no servicing, no mags and no Avgas is quite appealing. 3300 Jabiru engine was a bugger to get going on really cold days and the battery was tiny. Imagine just a throttle and maybe auto prop pitch controller. I must say I did prefer the control stick in the middle next to the pilots right hand rather than between the legs. Made no difference to control but made getting in and out the craft a lot easier.

[@theunknownunknowns5168]

Super cool electric aviation! Also like Imogen alluded to we're starting to see rhe real world feedback that most don't have a clue of. The example here is electric cars bringing battery costs down while increasing energy density and also second life batteries used at end of a single phase line. Zero grid retrofit. I call BS on those that say it's too expensive to update the grid to make everything electric... Sabine Hossenfelder and every grid operator who see $$$ from a centralised electricity generation and expensive upgrade projects.

[@TheIronArmenianakaGIHaigs]

I like to think that maybe we can make an electric plane that is good for circuit training. Only needs an endurance of around 90 minutes to 2 hours at most as it's going to be used for 60 mins of takeoff and landing practice.

[@LastWish90]

10-15 minutes is plenty enough for Air RB (;

[@nickthegriffin]

What about your cross country flights ? You know like the one I did during my ppl training the one that requires a minimum of 150 miles and at least two full stop landings? The fact is that even the best ev aircraft can't perform full training let alone private flight because it's too heavy whereas a 60 year old Cessna 150 can fly for hours so it's not really progress is it when it's worse

[@MrAdopado]

@@nickthegriffin Nobody has claimed it's progress in terms of range when compared with an old Cessna 150 (which I have flown). The progress is that it is now demonstrated that you can fly a plane without using fossil fuels. A very limited use aircraft but nevertheless an aircraft that could have some specific economically viable uses even today. No doubt the 150 mile cross country requirement could be met with extra landings.

[@bujin1977]

@@nickthegriffin 1770. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot builds the first steam-powered carriage, with a theoretical top speed of 4.8 miles per hour, but typically moved at around 2.25 mph. I'll bet people at the time were asking what the point of it is when their horses could pull carriages much faster and for longer distances.

[@AshleyWilsonAU]

Thank you for that big picture summary in the middle of the clip Imogen, it really helped 👍

[@Stephen-Jones]

Thanks for another great episode. Loved the backing track during the take-off phase. Will be interesting to see where electric flight gets to in the next few years

[@trevorberridge6079]

It should be pointed out that electric flight (like electric cars) is NOT new. In October 1973 a converted glider flew for 9 minutes powered by Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) batteries. This was the first manned electric aircraft to fly under it's own power. You may not be impressed with that, but it's an electric flight moment equivalent to the Wright Brothers first flight. Just think, it's been 51 years since this electric plane took it's first short flight. Within 50 years of the Wright Brothers taking off Boeing were flying the 377 Stratocruiser Airliner that could carry 100 passengers. That is a marker of how much progress could be made with electric flight within one generation.

[@TomTom-cm2oq]

I was fortunate enough to fly this in Voss last year at the European Skydiving Championship and I was awesome! Flared it too early and almost missed the runway! It’s so light that I was told I had to slip it to land it, which was loads of fun :)

[@jamesbuchanan8633]

The future of electic aviation is very exciting. Obviously the energy density issue is the big problem to solve but that is for big companies to take on.

[@jeffmaling9577]

Beta Technologies based in Vermont, USA has been building a public electric aviation charging network since well before Aerovolt. It already uses CCS.

[@alankingsley-dobson4676]

It’s not a public network, the ALIA isn’t certified so for testing only.

[@tonybarton3746]

Done quite a few military exercises at Dunkeswell, great to see electric planes there as well

[@fishyerik]

If there's a hangar to put solar panels on, providing the amount of energy needed to charge a few small light electric planes shouldn't have to be an issue. Especially for planes that typically requires daylight to be flown, and are mostly flown recreationally, meaning the correlation between generation of solar power and use of power for charging should be about as strong as for air conditioning. Some batteries are still required unless there's a grid connection that can handle the difference in generation and use at any given moment, but it shouldn't be too difficult to generate much more than the overall amount of energy required onsite in most cases.

[@cloudpandarism2627]

i love electric aviation. currently developing 💫

[@CymruDad]

Great to see another episode on electric flight, and the developments since the last episode with Robert’s bumpy flight 😂. Also good to see the HAV Airlander mentioned - they’re moving ahead well, with production close to starting on commercial sale aircraft, and a contract for 10 or more ships for Air Nostrum in Spain. Was kind of your pilot to mention that he’d crashed one of the planes as you were taxing to take off - nothing like putting you at ease! 😂

[@JoeMcMorrow-k7e]

"It's a bit hard to miss the Isle of Wight" - I dunno, I probably could. I can't find my backside with both hands and a map.

[@matthiaskreidenweis]

So basically the Pipistrel is an flying first gen Zoe with a tiny 20 kWh battery😅

[@pablofb75]

Aerodromes must not shun electric aviation. With the uncertain future of hydrocarbon based liquid fuel such as AVGAS 100L the opportunity to host any form of electric aviation brings much needed revenue in the form of hangarage fees, handling charges, landing fees and electrons. As the petrol engine saved the horse, the electric aircraft will save general aviation.

[@Pottery4Life]

@FullyChargedShow Please check in on and give us an update on: "B.C.’s Harbour Air aims to buy 50 electric engines to convert seaplane fleet" when you get to Canada this year.

[@rocketsausage1]

The best presented and put together show I've seen for a long time. Thank you.

[@BartoszDebski]

This makes me re-think pilot license again, cost of flight , greener energy.

[@LeslieMatheson]

US Air Force is testing electric powered flight just up the road from me, in Florida.. They had a multi rotor and have a Pipistrel they are testing.

[@jcfallows]

I loved this video, I sat in the plane last year at Harrogate show, it really is a cosy fit for two! Imogen can test the jet ski that flies Out of the water please ! I think Robert is a bit elderly and Jack might be too tall. You are just the right size!

[@danaschoen432]

"Have a lovely coffee and lunch" What better use of an hour can one think of?

[@Pats-Shed]

With regard to the charging infrastructure for aviation, it would seem like a good idea to use the apron of the airfield to erect a solar array to charge the battery banks for the chargers .

[@amaljoe367]

Great thing about electricity is that it's always same. You don't have to have different grades or prices for different vehicles or class of vehicles 😅

[@martythemartian99]

True... as long as the plug and socket fit. 😉

[@BikeFlips]

Have you heard of CHADEMO? That electricity is different.

[@martythemartian99]

@@BikeFlips Strictly speaking, the electricity is the same. You can change voltage and wattage simply enough, but is a major operation to alter diesel, gasoline and kerosene.

[@BikeFlips]

@@martythemartian99 - it's OK, I was joking :P

[@martythemartian99]

@@BikeFlips AAAAAARGH! I fell for it 😵

[@kenndann]

I read about this one a couple of years ago. ‘’Harbour Air made history by introducing the world’s first all-electric commercial aircraft, known as the ePlane. This remarkable aircraft is a six-seater DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver powered by a 750hp electric propulsion system. The ePlane successfully completed its inaugural flight at the Harbour Air Seaplanes terminal in Vancouver, Canada, back in December 2019. The flight was piloted by Harbour Air’s CEO and founder, Greg McDougall1. The company’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility drove them to embark on this groundbreaking project. By transitioning their fleet of seaplanes to electric power, Harbour Air aims to make a significant difference for our planet, moving from carbon-neutral to carbon-zero operations”

[@Owen-wc1wr]

There’s a Fully Charged video on it!

[@RPRosen-ki2fk]

That was BIG NEWS back in 2019. Sadly there seems to be no significant advances since. I just came from their website and had to really dig to even find mention of anything about electric flight, and it was only talking about what they achieved 5 years ago.

[@AC-van68]

Harbour Air signed last year to acquire 50 Magnix engines, and currently hope to obtain Transport Canada certification to operate their fleet from 2026. It's taking longer to get the certification than they hoped, but they're still moving forward.

[@jaaklucas1329]

@@AC-van68 Im in Van too and this is exciting. They have run a couple of years of test flights on the E-beaver. This is perfect for their routes which are short hops. A point of note was the pilots comments on the great torque on the takeoffs...

[@chriswilliams8607]

They are waiting for certification, and the aviation authority postponed them again... it's not a technical problem to get electric airplanes flying, it's our overregulated, sometimes completely absurd way of dealing with new stuff. Compare that with some moron driving 150 miles, crashing, killing 5 people.... a short headline, next day its fogotten and nothing get's changed, but if you want to build an electric aircraft, they torture you with a thousend stupid ideas what you need to proof and what needs to be tested and certified until you are broke, before you can legally fly with it.

[@JoePolaris]

Cool report.... I am jealous of Imogen for all those cool experiences 🙂 awesome office your have.. It seems we will see more commercial application for planes when the energy density reaches ~1000Wh/Kg.... Love the idea though... turn a switch and just go, power, no fumes.

[@Yanquetino]

Cool! I love to see these developments! I think Imogen was squeezing her hands to tightly at takeoff that some of her finger tips turned white…! 😬😂

[@nakfan]

That is a great and uplifting video. Keep it up following electric aviation…

[@pinkelephants1421]

These small aerodromes would be perfect for larger sized solar arrays, either ground or rooftop mounted, since there's usually plenty of unused available space, the pairing of which with large battery storage should enable the adoption of small electric aircraft to move quicker and make 'fueling up' so much cheaper than that of the current liquid aviation fuels.

[@MrAdopado]

There was a solar farm visible on this video ...

[@pinkelephants1421]

@@MrAdopado But that doesn't automatically mean it was the electricity supply for that particular aerodrome.

[@MrAdopado]

@@pinkelephants1421 OK ... it was powered by coal. Give me a break.

[@pinkelephants1421]

@@MrAdopado Perhaps you are not from the UK, therefore you would be unaware that coal in this country provides 1% or less of the electricity mix and by the end of 2024, that pose plant will permanently close. That's the most diplomatic way I can think of to counter your ridiculous & massively incorrect assertion.

[@MrAdopado]

@@pinkelephants1421 My sarcastic reference to coal was to highlight your own silly points! Of course the UK hardly uses any coal ... we've only one coal power station left and that is due to close later this year (Ratcliffe on Soar). I monitor grid generation on a daily basis so I am fully aware of the coal situation! Let's get back to your comment about the solar farm beside the aerodrome ... if you understand how the grid works you will also know that whether the solar farm is directly owned by the aerodrome or not its power will be being distributed in that locality so the electric plane chargers will effectively be benefiting from solar power. Your first comment in this thread was "These small aerodromes would be perfect for larger sized solar arrays.." and I simply pointed out that there is indeed a solar farm beside the aerodrome and that you could even see it on the video.

[@CEUOTC]

Love this, great work and excellent explanation/coverage. I based my final year dissertation on the Pipistrel electric aircraft and the overall benefits if used for initial flight training (CO2 emissions - mixed grid charging vs Avgas/Avtur).

[@SequoiaElisabeth]

Establishing a charging network should come first. This is the challenge in the USA. As I was always told, all good things in good time.

[@marcusnichols5595]

That Allye SES unit looks small enough to be truck mounted and serve as a mobile charger.

[@stevee8698]

I'm pretty sure that we need to rethink the propulsion method to go with electric. Perhaps similar to Dyson hair dryer & blade jet hand dryer stuck on the tail. Or forcing blade airstream out through a slit on top of the wing so it follows coanda effect creating air vacuum and lift and propulsion. Remember I said it here first

[@daveh6356]

It seems pilot training is the killer app for this plane which should be a great mindset enabler for electric aviation's future. Here in NZ, we have some larger planes on order for courier services. It's started.

[@WizCreates]

Really excited for this space.

[@zapfanzapfan]

An ultralight is a great proof of concept but for some more serious range the battery has to be a large fraction of the takeoff weight, like 50-60%, not 25%. Hope to see some slightly bigger models soon. 10 min contingency really forces you to stay close to the airport, usually the contingency has to be 45 min but then the planned flight time would be 15 min...

[@ab-tf5fl]

That will come in time as battery energy density improves. But, in the meantime, you've got to start somewhere.

[@Sunsetseven]

Way hay my garden is now famously immortalised on the in flight footage, shall i tell the neighbours too? 😁 Spitfire flying over today so its a little louder than the Pipistrel. Great show and great reporting as ever. C U all again sooon :-)

[@TheWinstn60]

Light Aircraft one of the last bastions of leaded fuel

[@simonpannett8810]

Nice to start with the small planes and even 20 seaters could go via hubs for further travel?? Nice and quiet, no pollution and no tyre damage and pollution or a huge Road Network to upkeep!! Flying could be the future!!

[@coniow]

I am glad that Fully Charged is aware of the HAV Airlander 10. Does this mean that there will be a visit to their new Production Facility as it gets built later this year? I do hope so!

[@highlanderapparel]

Thank you for the podcast, the Highlander p. S kindness is always free.😊😊

[@coniow]

I hope there are plans to instal a charger at Sandown Airport in the Isle of Wight. Not so much for locals, but I understand it is a popular destination for day flights to keep flying hours up. (There is a requirement that you fly a certain number of hours each year to keep the qualification valid. If you don't have enough flying time, you have to re-qualify).

[@MercurySung]

I believe there is charger installed there already 👍

[@goingoutotheparty1]

E is perfect for skydiving

[@MrAdopado]

Or as a glider tow plane perhaps.

[@masterwatch]

this is excellent, very good. the range will get better as battery technology provides larger energy density.

[@LucenProject]

So is the idea at the moment that these are for hopping over somewhere for like a meeting then coming back? Travel 15 minutes, charge an hour, travel back?

[@AerialWaviator]

How many electric aircraft are currently registered in the UK? And in Europe? Great to see additional electric aircraft are working towards certification. Was a bit surprised that the connector being used was not Megawatt Charging System (MCS), which will be the default for big-rig trucks. This would seem to be a solution that would continue to be useful as the size of electric aircraft grows and evolves.

[@MrAdopado]

Car rapid chargers are CCS in UK and Europe so I would have expected them to be using that ... then literally use the same hardware.

[@t43562]

I saw some large roof area there with no solar! :-)

[@stefanweilhartner4415]

one additional development will be perovskite solar cells without stiff silicon and more than 25% efficiency. without the need of very plane surfaces and you can apply them on the whole wing and fuselage. for a plane like the pipistrel electric, you get additional 2kW of power on a sunny day which increases the range by 10%. maybe 15% in 10 years from now. it is not much but it is not nothing and it fully charges itself in two days.

[@messiermitchell4901]

Electric planes seem more suited as a machine to have a bit of fun in, and I'm all for that For commercial operations though, the tech may struggle to complete with its fueled counterpart

[@mrbizi5652]

I’m very hopeful Solid State batteries like Quantum Scape can help electrify all the old Cessna and Piper 4 seaters at some point. Could really make flying cheaper and more reasonable to fly more regularly.

[@accesser]

Might be good for things like nearmaps and other mapping

[@cpypcy]

Does this plane have regenerative braking? Descending contains a lot of gravitational potential energy and swapping propeller from powering mode to generator mode seems like maybe not that stupid idea?

[@Tumbleweed5150]

The only problem with that idea that I can see would be if the "braking" would slow the plane down TOO fast.

[@54mgtf22]

Imogen. Awesome.

[@bob808]

Interesting to see 'Eaton' on the charging station. Those who know ICE cars, OEM and aftermarket, will understand why! :D

[@douglee2438]

Generally there is a lot of empty space at airports. A solar array to charge the battery should be possible.

[@matthewbaynham6286]

So why aren't they putting solar over all the hangers? All those hangers will have a lot of roof space to put some massive solar arrays.

[@The18107j]

The airfield near me has about 60kW of solar on the hangars. They don't even have electric aircraft or car chargers.

[@matthewbaynham6286]

@@The18107j if the people who do solar walkways and solar roads can diversify into solar runways and solar taxiways then these little airports would have more power than they would ever need.

[@The18107j]

@@matthewbaynham6286 Putting solar next to the runway would be a better idea. Runways can take a lot of force, and there is a lot of empty space around the runway. Rooftops would also work.

[@TerryHickey-xt4mf]

@@The18107j cheaper too

[@ab-tf5fl]

I think some commercial airports already do, although the electricity generated is just used to help power the airport building, not the actual airplanes. On the grassy area between runways, I'm not sure if that would be legal or safe. They have to account for the fact that an errant plane might veer off the runway and smash right into them, which is why this area has no trees in it.

[@tims8603]

They should check with Aptera. Put some of their solar cells on that plane.

[@new_carbon_energy]

Fantastic

[@ElectricPlaneGuy]

Also very nice landing!

[@johnmorrill5637]

It would appear that landing is actually harder than with the ICE engine. The pilot appeared to be constantly having to adjust the throttle setting all the way through the touchdown. This would make sense if the propeller has "engine braking/battery recharging". It wouldn't be as simple is simply pulling the power off on your Cessna, letting the prop "idle" and then gliding down for your last 10-20 feet. Instead, it looked like the pilot had to worry about getting the throttle setting "just right" all the way down - as just pulling power fully off looked like it was creating actual drag as from an electric motor trying to harvest power back into the battery. Am I wrong?

[@alankingsley-dobson4676]

Totally wrong

[@haxi52]

Yea, not sure what he was doing. The original plane this was based on is a powered glider. Should be able to cut power soon as runway is made and glide down like a normal light aircraft. Maybe he was floating on purpose to taxi off the end. Or maybe he really wanted a smooth landing for the camera.

[@siegeteamcweir6859]

Normal for light aircraft. The slight changes in the wind have a larger effect on an aircraft that is both flying quite slow, and is quite light. That means the pilot has to adjust power constantly. Happens in an ICE light aircraft too.

[@robinbennett5994]

I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying to touch down at a specific spot for the camera. I've be very surprised if the designers had made the plane harder than necessary to fly, and regen braking is a bit pointless on a plane because you don't change speed much.

[@waynerussell6401]

An earlier version called the Alpha, did have a special prop that allowed regenerative descent which recovered 13% of the energy in circuit flying. Complexity and homologation difficulties made this option not possible on the commercial Velis version.

[@mikemellor759]

Interesting but I’d like an update in a year 🙏

[@andrewmullen4003]

I'm pretty sure there's enough space at airfields to stick some solar panels to charge the charger

[@ps.2]

Or some wind turbines between the runways and taxiways. What could possibly go wrong?

[@tpaul2866]

No more holding the aircraft at 2000 rpm and checking both ignition circuits.

[@1943vermork]

There are still redundancy to validate, like drive unit A, B, C, BMS A,B,C but I’m sure it’s all automatic and takes 3 seconds to do so it by the computer. It will be so much easier to maintain

[@MrAdopado]

@@1943vermork Yes, reduced engine maintenance costs will be a huge offset to increased costs of the plane itself.

[@navinvent]

Skydiving or gliding should be in a way that it spins the propeller and charges like regenerative braking.

[@ivorholtskog5506]

There is an electric beaver in Vancouver B.C..

[@uproid]

I reckon that pilot needs an extra wide cabin to accommodate his hair! 😃 Great to see aviation electrification progressing. I think the Pipistrel is like the early Nissan Leaf - about the same range and charge rates. So we can expect to see similar progress in range and charging rates compared to cars as time passes. With the Pipestrel, if the next student is ready for their flying lesson, you don't really want the aircraft idle for an hour. Does the current Pipistrel still have the swappable battery packs? If so, can those chargers work with the battery packs off the aircraft? And one important figure they didn't give us, how many pence per KWh are they charging for aircraft to use those chargers?

[@LadyvonTingleASMR]

great episode. This feels like the future!

[@flukeylukey7559]

Is it possible for these planes to glide for a bit to extend the flight, or is it not the right design.

[@richbanton6672]

Aren’t airfields idea for Solar & battery storage. Lot of roof space on plane garages!!! , as long as you can limit the reflectivity of the panels

[@jessebrook1688]

Panels with less reflectivity would also glean more energy from diffuse sources, too.

[@flukeylukey7559]

Should we rethink whether we need to have long haul flights, nothing wrong with a few shorter flights, a guess on distances, could we fly from London to Turkey to India to Western Australia then to Sydney, I'd rather this than long haul, might have to stop at some small islands in the Pacific Ocean if you want to get across to the Americas etc Should be possible to have battery swapping at appropriate locations for a quick recharge, could be a slower less energy intensive to charge the batteries this way. I believe this will be the way for all transport, we can do this now if we want to.

[@mikek6049]

i wonder why they didnt just go CCS? eventually when people start owning cheap electric microlitres that you can tow in your car, they will be chargeable on your home AC chargepoint that your car uses. it would be nice if public DC charging was also the same system.

[@jpm000001]

Everyone needs to just use the Tesla charging standard. Especially airplanes comments very small lightweight and compact

[@sleep_gaminglife]

100 miles on a 20kwh battery is amazing. That’s basically 5mi/kwh. I wonder what a fossil fuel energy equivalent would be?

[@rogerbrand6214]

"Only" about 100 miles from 20kWh, so about the same efficiency as a Nissan Leaf. Sign me up.

[@gordonfoat8269]

Very interesting. Have you seen the passenger electric plane in Canada?

[@jaaklucas1329]

Harbour Air in Vancouver you mean? Yes they've been testing their retrofitted E-Beaver for a couple of years with great results. They plan to convert their fleet as they do seaplane short hops.

[@christopherbrand5360]

For commercial aviation, regardless of the energy source/storage onboard the aircraft, I imagine some sort of maglev rail gun being used to handle taxi and acceleration to takeoff speed. Based on the estimates I have seen, this could reduce the energy storage requirement onboard the plane by 5-10%. This would both make battery electric and fuel cell aircraft more broadly viable and also would represent a meaningful reduction in emissions and/or production requirement for hydrocarbon fueled aircraft. Would require some standards and engineering, but it seems like details and not breakthrough technology.

[@4literv6]

Well said! And what about the advances in the in wheel motor space? Now they can be 10-20+hp per kg and with built in braking systems? Maybe ev planes could use these to taxi&accelerate to takeoff speeds, but also regen massively upon landing? 🤔

[@emilenossin5098]

By the time you have changed airplane design to enable a rail gun launch, besides all the risks and huge costs involved, you're looking at 10+ years development time (design + testing + approval + implementation). By that time battery density per kg has increased by more than that improvement. Also don't forget that there will be a weight increase on the airplane to enable a safe launch system installed, increasing energy usage. There's also a lot more maintenance required for such a system, there's more risk involved in crosswind and with possible decoupling issues and the amount of airports will be hugely limited. I think money is much better spent in improving the battery technology quicker.

[@t1n4444]

​@@emilenossin5098 Can't see Granny surviving such a takeoff.

[@martythemartian99]

@@t1n4444 It doesn't need to be Carrier levels of acceleration. The runways at airports are much longer. Even so, granny may wet herself.😄

[@carlosorff]

Made by PipiStrel from Slovenia

[@UrbanPlumbers]

20kWh - ohhh, imagine range anxiety while flying.

[@darekmistrz4364]

Looking at these electric planes they are very similar to ICE powered planes. I wonder if there are any benefits to changing that design so that battery can be placed in a different place or structured differently. Same like Tesla did in their designs

[@glorfification]

First, you have to think of a happy little thought. It's easier than pie!

[@locknut5382]

Where is the nearest flying school to Lincolnshire which uses electric aeroplanes? I'm interested in seeing one and buying a demonstration flight in it. Thanks.

[@phizicks]

love the pants.

[@sanjuansteve]

Small, pilotless VTOL aircraft are the future for a huge percentage of all flights.

[@DavidKnowles0]

I don't think they can replace airliners. you would probably need 100 of them to replace a single day, 1,300 at a airport like Heathrow an that would 103,000 flights a day.

[@patreekotime4578]

I really dont get that whole thing. I personally dont want to see the skies looking like the roads full of personal transport VTOLs. I would actually rather see better ground transport like high speed rail.

[@edgarescandar3944]

What’s the price point for these planes?

[@johnmaslen]

By my reckoning it is more efficient than an electric car! 20kwh battery in a car would get maybe 80 miles, plane is 103!

[@robinbennett5994]

That's very impressive for a 100mph cruise, but then it's probably lighter than most cars!

[@reahreic7698]

For sure, my Polestar 2 has a 78Kw battery and gets around 220mi at ~70mph. That small plane has nearly 3 times the efficiency lol.

[@ariefghani2380]

So for their 20kWh battery, it can fly up to 90 nautical miles. What's the Voltage tho, would love to know the specs of the battery

[@RWBHere]

I would guess that it's nominally 400 Volts, because that is the most common voltage in electric road vehicles. 800 Volts is beginning to be deployed, but it's still a small part of the market.

[@waynerussell6401]

All the specs are on their site! "The 57.6kW liquid cooled electric engine provides power to the aircraft. The power is delivered by 345 VDC electric system built around a liquid-cooled in-house developed high performance battery system, which includes two Pipistrel PB345V119E-L batteries connected in parallel, installed in a redundant 2-unit arrangement, total nominal capacity 20 kWh. Crashworthy, thermal runaway inhibiting, HIRF/EMI tolerant. One battery pack is located in the nose of the airplane and the second behind the cabin. This ensures redundancy of the power source: in case of battery failure, the malfunctioning battery would get automatically disconnected from the system. A single battery is capable of standalone operation and has enough power capability to support climbing and continuation of flight."

[@grahamcook9289]

Can you do commercial pleasure flights in this aircraft?

[@danielmadar9938]

Thanks

[@hcw199]

Takes 'range anxiety' to a whole new level! Battery low, you suddenly have fears of crash landing!

[@TerryHickey-xt4mf]

I realize you are taking the P..... but I am sure there is a battery level indicator, just like in my ev. 😄. Here in NZ, there are a lot of short haul flights that take about 50 passengers from one rural location to another, or to the main airports. Here in Whangarei we have always had the problem with our very short runway, the council is thinking of spending many millions on a new airport that could be ready to roll in 2034. (!) However, by then it will be obsolete, aircraft will be e VTOL's or similar, and will only need a short runway anyway. Our city also has a fantastic helicopter rescue service, that really delivers, (seeing we are in the provinces) so to speak. I cannot wait for them to be converted to e VTOL's in the future as well, the only complaint from the city and hospital is the noise, they are indeed very loud for all the CBD residence, and they do have to work 24/7.

[@hcw199]

@@TerryHickey-xt4mf electric VTOL.... You are dreaming!

[@ab-tf5fl]

Not really. You calculate how much range you need before you take off, and if you don't have enough, plus the required energy reserve mandated by law, you don't fly in the first place. Even in combustion planes, they don't just blindly fill up the tank before every flight like they do a car because the extra weight of the extra fuel would waste fuel; they calculate what the need, add in the required energy reserve to make the trip safe, and fly with just that amount of fuel and no more.

[@rngalston]

wonder how long until they are in the states..

[@waynerussell6401]

The FAA has just granted Textron eAviation’s Pipistrel an exemption from the light sport aircraft (LSA) regulations, allowing the company’s Velis Electro electric-powered airplane to operate under LSA regulations in the U.S. This means that flight training schools and individual pilots can now fly the Velis Electro without restrictions.

[@rngalston]

@@waynerussell6401 now I wonder when one will be available at my local flight school... I've been asking and the personnel act like it's way over budget.

[@justin_time]

Switching to more efficient airframe designs, such as flying wings (Think Northrop B-21 or N-9M), could help to reduce emission immediately (by ~30%, I believe). Pairing a more efficient and already existing airframe technology with battery electric technologies could really give these companies the leg up they have been looking for without necessarily inventing anything new. I'm curious why, beyond hesitancy surrounding safety issues of a non-conventional airframe design, these companies haven't tried that avenue? Edit: spelling

[@AlRoderick]

Building and certifying a new commercial airplane is an extremely long process, most startup companies just can't do it at all and all of the entrenched industry players, which have consolidated down to about four companies, have no interest in going through the full certification when they can try to pass off every innovation as just a variant of an existing model and attempt to bypass it. This is one of the reasons Boeing is in the state it's in.

[@LastWish90]

Stability and controllability especially in the yaw axis are limited in these types of aircraft, especially if you think about smaller aircraft with such design, also visibility isn't great and landing will be way more difficult than a Chesna. Talking about commercial passenger aviation I can imagine the sheer wingspan of the aircraft becoming a problem since it won't be compatible with existing passenger boarding gateways. Also think about pressurization, in a fighter/bomber aircraft you only need to pressurize the cockpit, in a passenger plane you need to pressurize the whole passenger compartment. Last thing is cost, developing a whole new type of aircraft is incredibly expensive and difficult, look at Boing, they can't even develop a proper aircraft, anymore, because they are cutting costs wherever possible.

[@jamesengland7461]

You're correct; it's hesitancy. The aircraft industry is actually EXTREMELY traditionalist and resistant to change.

[@justin_time]

@@LastWish90 Adverse yaw problems were solved by adding vertical stabilizers, so there no excessive stability and controllability issues. Visibility issues are no lesser or greater than in conventional aircraft. Wingspan isn't so much an issue with existing airport infrastructure so much as taxing equipment and jet bridges. Area needed to be pressurized in a flying wing's cabin would be lesser or equal to conventional designs. While developing a commercial flying wing that could carry an equivalent amount of passengers to modern airliners would be novel, the designs have been around for many decades and are well refine. The B-2 bomber serves as a good example of this.

[@waynerussell6401]

@@jamesengland7461 So is the Auto industry as we are discovering with their rejection or back tracking on electrification. One company - start up - is eating their lunch. "I’m so dying to do a supersonic, electric VOTL jet, but adding more work will make my 🧠 🧨" 10:39 AM · Oct 8, 2021 Musk on X. "I have a design for a plane. The exciting thing to do would be some kind of electric vertical takeoff and landing, supersonic jet. The interesting thing about an electric plane is that you want to go as high as possible but you need a certain energy density in the battery pack because you have to overcome gravitational potential energy. Once you’ve overcome gravitational potential energy and you’re at a high altitude, the energy you use in cruise is very low, and then you can recapture a large part of your gravitational potential energy on the way down. The higher you go, the faster you will go for the same amount of energy. And at a certain altitude you can go supersonic with less energy-per-mile - quite a lot less energy per mile - than aircraft at 35,000 feet.” Musk on Rogan interview.