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First commercial electric passsenger planec

Bill D said:
No cord, unlike the John Deere electric tractor.
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I think it's cool, but

Why is the India Times so interested ? Strange.

"The world's first fully electric commercial aircraft took its inaugural test flight on Tuesday, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and offering hope that airlines may one day end their polluting emissions."

Umm, it's a twenty minute ride. And they have about an hour in between flights to recharge.

"Ganzarski said the technology would mean significant cost savings for airlines, not to mention zero emissions."

The reason for this project was Sechelt is gentrifying. All the well-off retirees don't like the noise the seaplanes make when they take off. NOISE was the driver behind this, not the rest of this spiel. (The turboprops are actually louder. When they feather the prop on landing, it is even worse than a radial taking off. Much worse.)

It's a cool thing but still. Limited. Interesting, but not a gateway to the garden of eden. And Harbour Air is a smart bunch of cookies. Who could argue against electric planes ?
 
This was actually discussed before in another thread. It is indeed about noise and virtue signalling and the combination of light loads and short distance make this a niche where an electric can work.

I can't imagine electric bush planes delivering heavy loads to remote locations in Alaska. Not only are they often long flights but in many cases no way to recharge before the return flight.
 
I have a problem with makers of electric automobiles, aircraft, etc. claiming zero emissions. Actually the power generating plants that supply electricity to charge the batteries will increase emissions. These electric vehicles merely shift the location at which emissions are generated.
 
Illinoyance said:
I have a problem with makers of electric automobiles, aircraft, etc. claiming zero emissions. Actually the power generating plants that supply electricity to charge the batteries will increase emissions. These electric vehicles merely shift the location at which emissions are generated.
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Not if you glass in a full array of photovoltaic cells in the top surface of the wing.....
 
guest said:
And put a note in the pilots handbook.
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Notes in the pilots' handbook don't seem to work these days :D

One point tho, Harbour Air isn't running "light loads". They haul everything a Beaver can, just like "out in the bush." And Harbour is not into virtue signalling, electric in this case is a solution to a problem. They are okay guys.

It's a pretty neat deal, hope it works out. But I don't see electric 747's any time soon :)
 
guest said:
And put a note in the pilots handbook.

"This aircraft is not certified for IFR conditions"
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I was thinking more about the stop over at the remote lodge, and having to wait a week for the batteries to recharge from the sun.

In flight recharging would be happening as well, but at a minus sum mode (using more than gaining).

Be interesting to see how if any of the sailplane builders are doing.
Home - Experimental Soaring Association
With their absolute minimal usage of energy, they might just be gaining power from photovoltaic cells on the wings during flight.
 
EmanuelGoldstein said:
...One point tho, Harbour Air isn't running "light loads". They haul everything a Beaver can, just like "out in the bush." And Harbour is not into virtue signalling, electric in this case is a solution to a problem. They are okay guys.
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Their CEO says most of their flights are short hauls- 15-25 minutes flight time. That's fine for Vancouver Island and near vicinity, but it wouldn't cut it in SE.

They say 30 minutes of flight time with a 30 minute reserve. At 140 mph, that's a 70 mile range.

You could do Wrangell to Petersburg, but Ketchikan to Wrangell or even Sitka to Elfin Cove (2 common trips) would be out of range.

I'll watch with interest, they have a couple years to go before they will be able to carry passengers.

I also wonder how the salt spray/marine environment will treat the electrical connections. Corrosion is the #1 enemy of float planes.
 
Illinoyance said:
I have a problem with makers of electric automobiles, aircraft, etc. claiming zero emissions. Actually the power generating plants that supply electricity to charge the batteries will increase emissions. These electric vehicles merely shift the location at which emissions are generated.
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British Columbia is apparently one of four jurisdictions, the others being Norway, Quebec and Manitoba, that get all their power from hydroelectric generation. BC is currently building the Site C Dam on the Peace River to get another 1.1 GW or so of capacity, so we can charge our e-vehicles guilt free. But do not fear, there is no lack of hypocrisy here. Many well off and environmentally sensitive people in these parts want to move to one of several gulf islands or the aforementioned Sunshine Coast, which is effectively an island, and live a semi-rural lifestyle, but keep their cars, boats and the extensive ferry system and be able to fly when in a hurry. The result is your progressive small island coastal lifestyle has an amazingly large carbon footprint relative to living in a city. This electric plane is a step in the right direction but we need electric cars, ferries and transit in great profusion to start to make a dent in the hypocrisy.
 
rcoope said:
Many well off and environmentally sensitive people in these parts want to move to one of several gulf islands or the aforementioned Sunshine Coast, which is effectively an island, and live a semi-rural lifestyle, but keep their cars, boats and the extensive ferry system and be able to fly when in a hurry. The result is your progressive small island coastal lifestyle has an amazingly large carbon footprint relative to living in a city.
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It's going to take more than electric cars and ferries to whitewash the hypocrisy displayed in this "gentrification" crap. You are 1000% correct, it's pretty sickening.
 
It's been mentioned before, but IMO the real innovation in electric flight is the Pipistrel all-electric flight trainer.

First all-electric trainer plane gets airworthiness certification from the FAA in the US - Electrek

This seems a perfect use of the technology and it is in niche markets such as this that electric vehicles can really shine. The Harbour Air application is also a niche. In both cases the short flight distances and proximity to noise sensitive areas make the quieter electrics a feasible solution.
 
The Bye eFlyer is another trainer in development that has some promise. They are talking a 3 hr flight time at the optimum duration speed, and about half that for regular flying. That's about a 200 mi range not including reserve.

Also have a 4 seater in the works targeted at the air taxi market.

eFlyer - Bye Aerospace
 
Thanks for that link.

Nice looking craft and in the press notes this bit from a development team of a battery supplier working on Li-S chemistry:

“ OXIS expects to achieve 500 Wh/kg by early 2020. Our Li-S cells and battery systems are ideally suited for aviation. They are over 50% lighter than the current Li-ion cell and battery systems, with the winning formula of a high energy cell at the power required.”
OXIS Energy to Develop Proof-of-Concept Advanced, Lightweight Lithium Sulfur Cells for BYE AEROSPACE - Bye Aerospace

50% lighter - wow

It seems that is another point in this curve which is making these applications possible:

2D1BF4FA-A6CE-4612-8110-DFDF6F0FCFAD.jpg


Edit- and the Wiki page for Li-S.

It appears the chemistry holds promise but that there are still significant hurdles in bringing this to applications:

Lithium& - Wikipedia
 
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