Witnessing History: Eviation Alice's Inaugural Flight - A Milestone in Electric Aviation

Eviation Aircraft made history on Sept. 27, when the company successfully completed the first flight of its zero-emission Alice aircraft. Alice’s maiden flight took place early in the morning at Grant County International Airport (MWH) in Moses Lake, Washington. The aircraft lifted off at 7:10 a.m. local time, reaching an altitude of 3,500 feet, flying for eight minutes, and peaking at 149 knots before safely landing at MWH.
Video courtesy of Eviation

[@truckerray7533]

Can't we just hear the sound of the aircraft & NOT the stupid music. . . . . .!!!

[@flytoday]

sounds like a dash 8 hence the music

[@petersbayley]

Exactly so. Meaningless Muzak :-(

[@vblaas246]

From inside, must be magical. Only a glider is more silent I'm guessing.

[@TehNetherlands]

@@vblaas246 Most noise is produced by the propellers, so it's not going to be that much different from regular turboprops.

[@vblaas246]

@@TehNetherlands Yes, but less low frequency vibration noise is my guess.

[@mawaii]

I'm more interested in the engine sound instead of that silly music.

[@onurmutlu240]

You broke the music producer’s heart man ❤️‍🩹

[@newnepal2072]

There's no engine, only a motor.

[@ScreaminEmu]

Yeah literally why I was here. 😂

[@Luigi_Mario_1997]

@@onurmutlu240 shill

[@FPVREVIEWS]

Looks like a solid, practical and high performance configuration. Congrats, Eviation, on first flight.

[@beckerdo]

It's a beautiful plane and a major milestone. I wish the video had some sound of the engines.

[@blocbonbon]

This is awesome! Norway may be your first market. Crappy roads and lots of short flight routes, and lots of clean energy.

[@wallywally8282]

Got a few landings in at once I see😂😂👍

[@slacksci]

Jets waste so much fuel on the tarmac. A huge step forward, congrats to the teams involved

[@riparianlife97701]

I always wonder why commercial jets don't have one hub motor to push back and taxi. The technology has been around for decades.

[@keriddunk1520]

@@riparianlife97701 I don't think one hub motor would be enough. It will add more complexity

[@riparianlife97701]

@@keriddunk1520 As long as it freewheels forward, you wouldn't need a clutch.

[@audistark7734]

The big problem is that we will run out of crude oil so we gotta be quick to make these fully functioning.

[@riparianlife97701]

@@audistark7734 It's unlikely we'll run out of oil for a long time, especially with Arctic ice melting off of a lot of new areas. The stone age didn't end because we ran out of rocks. There's no need to wait until we run out of oil to come up with something better.

[@PianomanJustie]

This is the future; Congratulations 🎉 🥇

[@coffeeisthepathtovictory1290]

This is the future. Congrats. Now try this in the Puget Sound convergence zone during fall or spring.

[@MikeKobb]

Congratulations. Please post a version of this with live audio and at actual speed (rather than slow-mo).

[@DamonLaw]

Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXndeqmNmNJjn8k

[@MikeKobb]

@@DamonLaw Nice, thank you! Pity there's no audio but great to see the video.

[@josim6820]

Israeli designed electric airplane ALICE .......pride of Israeli brains !

[@susansticazsky9787]

Congrats! 🎉

[@michel1965ification]

Israel keep it up!

[@jamesopp2334]

I agree turn the fen music off

[@dlfabrications]

I wonder what the glide ratio is on this aircraft? Weight and balance calculations will be easier since the batteries weight the same at takeoff (full charge) as landing (no charge).

[@Zimbrabim]

I would hope that the batteries still had some charge when landing, just in case they have to go around again!

[@dlfabrications]

@@Zimbrabim Good point👍

[@XPLAlN]

I would hope they land with 45 minutes reserve energy like all the other commercial flights have to. Not easy when your battery capacity is only 920 kWh and you have 1400 kW shaft power whereby a 65% cruise will burn through all available energy in one hour. For anyone looking to link the Twin Cities by air this has to be their best option though. International routes will also be possible in theory as long as it’s Windsor-Detroit.

[@eugeneeugene3313]

כל הכבוד לצה"ל!

[@scottmc1178]

It would be cool to see motors in the wheels for faster acceleration and zero noise taxiing.

[@sixpackpilot]

only if it means minimum extra weight, and it does not drain the batteries extra compared to 'normal' taxiing/take-off. Not sure the weight of those motors is worth it. Perhaps it is worthwhile if you can also use the motors for regenerative braking on landing, recharging the batteries a bit, instead of just heating up the brake-discs.

[@han-yooljang5200]

Aerospace engineers are spending hundreds of hours and millions of dollars to reduce aircraft weight, so adding weight (on the wheels) is nonsense. This added weight will do absolutely nothing during flight, and aircraft is a machine designed to fly not to roll on ground.

[@sixpackpilot]

@@han-yooljang5200 exactly my point

[@scottmc1178]

"hundreds of hours"? Do you mean Tens of thousands of hours? Siemens makes induction motors with a 5.2-1 power/ weight ratio. An added 15Kg would give you 26Kw or about 105 HP. enough to Taxi, reverse, bring the tires to ground speed on landings and to utilize rural airports concerned with noise. Also planes are designed to both fly and "roll" on the ground

[@han-yooljang5200]

@@scottmc1178 Wow congrats! You are smarter than thousands of aerospace engineers! I wonder why Boeing is not hiring you.

[@maksimpliner1377]

Congratulations !!!

[@dennisp3314]

You know what - I am even a longtime musician & I don't wanna hear the music. Everyone does it & it is so irritating. We want to hear about the product, NOT scripted "Mood" music. Enough already - Everyone & your Vids

[@MCO2ATL2DTWby777]

Would be nice to be able to hear what this thing sounds like, but every video I see has corny music instead

[@MikkaZKitka]

It would have been better without music. The point is not just cutting out jet fuel but noise pollution too...

[@jamesmoloney4343]

Zero emission only if the source of the electrical charge is wind, solar or nuclear.

[@Peer189]

Great. ;-) Thank you. That is climate protection.

[@aylinbekem3701]

We are very proud of you Petek Saracoglu for being involved in the project once👏🏻👏🏻

[@folk.]

wow such great music

[@irusev]

Amazing! looking forward to skydiving out of an electric plane soon!

[@suasleat]

Me too, but gotta move those props forward first!

[@irusev]

@@suasleat Yeah, or have an exit door in front of the wing. they used to have the engines at the wingtips but apparently less efficient than the current engine positions

[@matth.2922]

How long to recharge after a max. distance flight?

[@Parkodox]

I read 30 min - an hour somewhere

[@cbatiau2528]

@@Parkodox DC fast charging of a 90-kWh battery pack in a BEV with 800-volt architecture takes closer to 1 hour for a full charge, with 10-80% in about 20 min ideally... Not sure how fast this plane battery could charge, but assuming it's similar 800-volt architecture and one is using a Tesla-Supercharger-style charger, I would guess about eight times more time than charging a 90-kWh car pack, or about 160-180 min roughly to go from, say, 50 kWh to 750 kWh (i.e., about 3 hours), but they'd want to top it off to 100%, I'm sure, for an airplane, so that could add a couple more hours on top?

[@flipadavis]

@@cbatiau2528 They will use higher power charging like they are using for semi and bus EVs. There is already a global MCS Megawatt Charging Standard that operators have agreed on. The MCS charging standard requires each charge point to have a max 1,250 volt & 3,000 ampere (DC) capability. The Tesla Semi for example will charge its 900-1000 kWh pack at up to a peak 1.5 MW rate. This means the Semi's range of 500 miles fully loaded can be recharged to 80% in less than an hour and fully recharged in close to an hour even though its pack is 10 times larger than a regular passenger EV. The charging speed is limited by each cell's c-rate. If 1 cell can safely charge from 10%-80% in 20 minutes then 100 cells in parallel can as well over the same time. The same for 1000 cells or 10,000 cells. Just need more power input and then the cells are grouped into modules in series with each module made up of cells charged in parallel.

[@عمرومجدى-ي4ث]

اللهم صل على محمد وال محمد

[@sigma682]

I wanted to hear what an electric plane sounded like...thumbs down.

[@robreeve]

1. I wanted to hear what it sounds like. 2. What kind of landing was that??? Copilot landing?

[@thecw301]

I notice they do not retract the wheels on climbout.

[@walterclements7968]

It's a test flight so i think they do it for safety

[@han-yooljang5200]

On any maiden flight, they usually fly with landing gear down just for safety precaution.

[@C172Pilotdude]

It will probably be several flights until they retract the gear.

[@christianwetzel5133]

Wunderbar

[@ericv.3647]

What happened to having the motors at the end of the wings like in the earlier prototype?

[@OGCinemaATL]

The Tesla of the Sky! I can smell the stock prices now 💸📈🌕

[@ZubairKhan-vs8fe]

A video of the cockpit while flying please

[@pickelkilla]

Looks like the jet from the incredibles

[@pleasego11]

Can I use my Tesla app to fly it? 😃

[@juandiegoceleminmojica8790]

The future is coming!

[@rahulsharma-gw7fc]

waiting for this for a long time.

[@peterdejong5456]

A plane that flies on coal power! 😎

[@Nefilum]

Fool

[@dalegreer3095]

This test flight was in Washington state where grid electricity is 85% from hydroelectric. West Virginia and Kentucky are mostly coal powered, but other states are mostly using natural gas for electricity. Iowa gets 60% of its electricity from wind. Texas gets about 19% from coal.

[@peterdejong5456]

@@dalegreer3095 Isn't it irrelevant what each state's renewable energy contribution is? The national grid is powered by 60.8% fossil fuels, 20.1% renewables (9.2% wind, 6.3% hydro, 2.8% solar, 1.3% biomass), 18.9% nuclear. Renewables are only 12.2% of total US energy consumption.

[@dalegreer3095]

@@peterdejong5456 Coal is still only 22% of the grid. Your original claim was that electric vehicles are 100% powered by coal. It does matter what state an EV runs in. As I'm sure you know, the "national grid" is broken up into smaller grids. The grid for Texas has almost no communication with any other grids, except sometimes through the Southern Power Pool, and Texas' grid is 19% coal, 35% renewables, 12% nuclear, and the rest natural gas. In any case, an EV powered by coal is still better than an ICE vehicle, because internal combustion engines are only 25-35% efficient, tending more toward 25% for most ICE vehicles. And electricity from natural gas produces half the emissions of coal, so it's obvious that EVs are superior from an emissions standpoint no matter what the grid looks like, it's only a matter of the degree of superiority.

[@leonidpopkov7623]

Good news!!! At last!!!

[@bamboo4216]

Vingroup lets go

[@AviationAccidentsYouTube]

Very nice.

[@nocknock4832]

Good Job Eviation!

[@EmoAngelFuentes]

Anybody know why their ticker symbol disappeared off of the E*TRADE app? It used to be there under EVTNF and now it’s gone.

[@jwholmes2]

Quite amazed it could actually fly. Will be interesting to see if they can develop it further, certify and mass produce.

[@oyay2821]

Future is here

[@mahadevovnl]

The wheels not folding into the fusilage kinda looks weird. I guess it's because the mechanism for that kind of system would cost too much weight?

[@ianrobertson3419]

They will eventually get to retracting the gear. First test flight, so not too many tests at once.

[@r8912na]

There is no aircraft manufacturer that folding the wheels of their first prototype during its first flight test at any aircraft, including fighter jet

[@mahadevovnl]

​@@r8912na That makes sense :) Thanks for clearing it up

[@SharhbiniRauf]

Use non explosive battery like blade battery or sodium ion, passenger and pilot savety is first

[@kobman4159]

Why can't you just post a video with a REAL sound and not some stupid music??

[@uhohDavinci]

Why do the engines have giant inlets if they are electric?

[@Giekeme]

Cooling

[@jacksemporiumofstuff]

I don't know for sure, but like the other poster stated it most probably for cooling. Electric motors can generate quite a bit of heat, and without adequate cooling ability can shut down from overheating.

[@ronaldvanooijen7991]

Nou nou, het is me wat. A simple plain in the air. No sound only shit Music. But you have your view 🙄

[@fjtoysaeromodels2176]

I Like the plane, but not the country who create it.

[@buzzypeterson1147]

Not the best landing there mr test pilot. Might want to get someone with some better skills

[@701983]

I suppose, no dummies to simulate passengers aboard? What about the battery? The full battery pack of 900 or 980 kWh?

[@newpapyrus]

Eviation could more than double the range of Alice if they combined it with a reformed methanol fuel cell. Renewable methanol can be produced from urban sewage, agricultural animal waste, they pyrolysis of urban garbage, agricultural waste, and fire hazardous forest waste. Methanol can also be produced from the production of hydrogen from water synthesized with CO2 extracted from the air or seawater using nuclear, wind, or solar energy.

[@pttimothys]

hated music.

[@NelsonFerreira681]

It's just a toy!!!

[@appomattoxross6751]

Bounced it.

[@marcobartolo6614]

L O L

[@tobberfutooagain2628]

The wings are too thick…..

[@crashcup100]

Plane not amazing. Battery and engines are interesting.

[@someotherdude]

somewhat amazing.... tail-mounted hybrid motors, unusual composite airframe, weird triangular section of empanage, I hope it all works because it promises very cheap 'short hop' flights.

[@ianrobertson3419]

@@someotherdude It looks like a squished out piaggio.

[@OdykKayne]

Looks neat, but the range is less than a third of a Cessna 172...unless technology changes and battery tech improves a lot, I can only see this having a very niche use case.

[@dalegreer3095]

Battery tech is improving by leaps and bounds. You have to start with what you have if you want to be the leader when the tech gets where it needs to be. Meanwhile the Alice can carry 9 passengers 280 miles in an hour. A Cessna 172 would need 2.5 round trips spanning at least 8 hours to do that.

[@keriddunk1520]

Third of Cessna but cost of transport is so cheap . Think about the price of tickets for short rides from one airport to near by airport within 100 - 200 miles.

[@dalegreer3095]

@@keriddunk1520 Exactly! Even short range electric aircraft will rejuvenate many municipal airports. Communities that closed their small airports will be left in the dust. These planes cost $200/hr vs $3000/hr for a business jet. Around Dallas we have several small airports in the suburbs, imagine being in a Dallas suburb, drive 5 miles or less to the airport, not have to go through TSA, and get to a small airport around Houston, but 5 miles or less from your ultimate destination.

[@vaderbase]

8 minutes... impressive for a toy. Wait... what? There are humans inside?!