The successful test flights demonstrate that electric airplanes aren’t just a pipe dream, but a viable, cheaper, and cleaner way to fly. The improved fuel efficiencies also put electric airplanes in good favor with governments looking to reduce their carbon footprints. That favour should help electric planes takeoff sooner rather than later.
Will electric planes ever be used in the aviation industry?
Small battery-powered electric aircraft already exist and are used in training flights and two-person operations Hybrid-electric aircraft to be used in commercial flights are currently being prototyped by the aviation industry
Are there any startups working on viable electric aircraft?
Several startups are working on viable electric aircraft, and some are starting to get the attention of major airlines. Heart Aerospace is one of those startups. We reported on the Sweden-based startup last year when it made a splash by unveiling the ES-19, a 19-seat electric aircraft meant for short flights.
How efficient is an electric plane?
The flight also marked 101 years since the first person flew a conventional aircraft over the body of water that separates the two islands. The electric plane is 90% efficient compared to 25% for conventional petrol aircraft engines. “In every way, it's nicer than flying a conventional combustion engine plane.
Are hybrid-electric planes the future of passenger planes?
The challenge for passenger planes is creating electric batteries which are energy dense, yet light enough to be carried onboard. In the meantime, hybrid-electric planes, which use both electric power and liquid fuel, offer a viable solution.
Will electric planes be possible?
Heart Aerospace, a Sweden-based startup, is among the companies attempting to capitalize on the promise of batteries to commercialize electric planes. Their 19-seat planes will start flight tests in 2024 and could be flying commercially by 2026, according to CEO Anders Forslund.
Why don't we use electric planes?
Among the challenges is proving that the plane can handle fire risks—a matter not just of chemistry, but the structural design of the battery packs—and still pull an emergency landing even if a battery blows. Large electric planes with radically new batteries may be decades away.
How efficient are electric planes?
Electric aircraft can be 2.1 to 3.2 times more energy efficient during cruise. Electric motors convert electricity into propulsive force more efficiently than combusting fossil fuels in an aircraft engine.
What are the disadvantages of electric planes?
What's the catch? Limitations in battery technology mean electric planes' batteries are still far less efficient than jet fuel. Aircraft makers have tried to compensate for this inefficiency by creating larger batteries, but those lead to extremely heavy vehicles ill-equipped for long-range travel.
Are electric planes the future?
Short haul, commuter flights for small numbers of passengers are much closer to going electric, especially if battery technologies become somewhat lighter. Smaller all-electric or hybrid regional planes might be available sometime in the 2030s, according to Boeing.
Will electric planes be cheaper?
Electric planes require fewer parts, less maintenance, and less fuel (power) than traditional planes — all of which could reduce the price of your ticket and make new short-to-medium flight options more feasible for airlines to offer.
Will electric planes be quieter?
But even that so-called “hybrid mode” would still produce 50 percent fewer emissions than standard planes. These electric aircraft would also be much quieter, Heart Aerospace executives say.
Are electric jet engines possible?
To keep things in scale, this corresponds to the thrusting pressure comparable to a commercial plane jet engine. Tang said "Our results demonstrated that such a jet engine based on microwave air plasma can be a potentially viable alternative to the conventional fossil fuel jet engine."
Is Boeing working on electric planes?
Last October, NASA and GE Aviation announced a new partnership to mature a megawatt-class hybrid electric engine that could power a single-aisle aircraft. Today the project got one step closer to takeoff.
What is the biggest problem in creation of electric aircrafts?
The biggest challenge is the low energy density of batteries. Jet fuel has an energy density of about 12,000 Wh/kg whereas commercially available lithium-ion batteries have an energy density at the cell level of about 250 Wh/kg.
Do hybrid airplanes exist?
Introducing Heart Aerospace Heart has received a previous order its hybrid-electric aircraft. United Airlines and Mesa Air Group purchased 200 19-seater aircrafts (the ES-19) with an additional option for 100 planes in 2021. “The ES-30 is an electric airplane that the industry can actually use.
Why are there no hybrid airplanes?
Hybrid-electric aircraft are similar to hybrid-electric cars in that they use a combination of batteries and fuels. The problem is that no other industry has the weight limitations that we do in the aerospace industry. That's why we have to be very smart about how and how much we are hybridizing the propulsion system.
How fast can electric planes go?
Single-seater electric aircraft can reach speeds of up to 387mph.
Why do electric planes have so many propellers?
Electric propellers increase lift during takeoff, allowing for smaller wings and overall higher efficiency. For the foreseeable future, electric planes will be limited in how far they can travel.
Will there ever be electric jets?
A report from NREL — one of the laboratories that serves the Department of Energy — predicts the market could see “strong growth starting in 2028,” when the first 50- to 70-seat electric aircraft are expected to appear.
How will planes be powered in the future?
There are many reasons why it might not happen, but there are good indications that sometime in the 2030s commercially viable hydrogen-powered aircraft will be in the air, though initially they might look like the planes that line up at airports like Heathrow today.
Who made the first electric plane?
Image: Pipistrel Aircraft. Last December, Seattle-based electric aeroengine maker Magnix claimed the world’s first commercial electric plane flight when a modified seaplane belonging to Canadian commuter airline Harbour Air took to the air, having had its conventional engine replaced with an electric one.
What is the electric plane used for in New Zealand?
The electric plane will be used for flight training and pleasure flights in New Zealand. Image: Pipistrel Aircraft. This article is part of the Pioneers of Change Summit. New Zealand just took delivery of its first electric plane.
How long can a Magnix fly?
The test lasted just four minutes but Magnix says it will be capable of flying for 30 minutes, with the same amount of power in reserve. Then, in June this year, the company topped that success by flying the biggest commercial electric plane so far, a battery-powered nine-seat Cessna Grand Caravan.
How far did the first electric plane fly across the ocean?
New Zealand’s bid to pioneer a carbon-free future for aviation just passed a new milestone as its first electric aircraft flew 80km across the ocean.
When did Volocopter get certified?
Germany’s Volocopter electric air taxi received official flight certification as far back as 2016 and was recognized as one of the World Economic Forum's 2019 Technology Pioneers. It has been demonstrated in Dubai and Singapore.
Does Boeing have electric planes?
Boeing’s Next innovation programme, meanwhile, includes smaller vertical-take- off electric planes and more than 100 companies worldwide are working on electric air taxis that use drone-style vertical take off propulsion systems, according to the BBC.
Can electric aircraft help?
So could electric aircraft help? Well, it depends where you are pinning your hopes. Batteries are a key issue. They’ve got lighter but they are still too heavy to be a viable energy source for long-haul flights.
What is the challenge of electric planes?
The challenge for passenger planes is creating electric batteries which are energy dense, yet light enough to be carried onboard. In the meantime, hybrid-electric planes, which use both electric power ...
When will fully electric commercial aircraft become a reality?
In the short-term, electric propulsion is likely to be restricted to so-called ‘air taxi’ operations which are expected to start service in a small number of cities from around 2023-2025. These will provide two- to four-person commuter flights to avoid ground traffic congestion.
What are hybrid-electric aircraft and how do they work?
In simple terms, hybrid-electric aeroplanes are powered by liquid jet fuel combined with an electric battery. Jet engines work when air is sucked through the front, compressed by fast-spinning blades, and then mixed with fuel. The air and fuel mixture is sparked and blasts out of the engine through the turbine, giving the plane power. Electric batteries use their charge to power an electric motor to spin when magnetic forces pull on a rotor. On a four-engine jet, one or more of the engines could be replaced by an electric motor creating a hybrid aircraft.
What difference will hybrid and fully electric aircraft make to emissions?
Like an electric car, a plane fuelled in part or wholly by electricity will be much cleaner because there are fewer or no CO2 emissions from convention al fuel combustion. However, one needs to take into account how the power that’s being used to charge the electric batteries is being produced. To be potentially carbon-zero, it would need to be derived from renewable sources.
What is the aviation industry doing to reduce CO2 emissions in the interim?
The aviation industry’s global climate action framework is underpinned by three goals, one of which is to reduce net CO2 emissions by 2050 by 50%. While electric and hybrid-electric aviation on a commercial scale may still be a few years away, the aviation industry continues to take other measures to reduce its CO2 output.
How much power does a hybrid electric aircraft use?
A propulsion system that uses a 50% electrical-power drivetrain and has a battery energy density of 1,000 watt-hours per kilogram would produce almost 50% less lifecycle CO2 emissions than a modern conventional aircraft.
Why are airports so efficient?
On the ground, airports are introducing electric vehicles and terminals are being powered by renewable energy, making them much more energy efficient. Find out more about these operational improvements here [Links to ABBB Operational Improvements article]
How far can an electric plane fly?
He worked out that the world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, could only fly 1,000km with batteries versus its standard range of 15,000km. “To keep its current range, the plane would need batteries weighing 30 times more than its current fuel intake, meaning it would never get off the ground,” he writes.
When did the first electric plane take off?
The world's first fully electric commercial seaplane took flight in December 2019 (Credit: MagniX) One of the most closely-watched hybrid aircraft experiments of recent years was the E-Fan X, a joint project between Airbus, Siemens and Rolls-Royce.
What are the two technologies that can reduce the emissions of aircraft?
In the meantime, two other technologies for lowering the emissions of aircraft being considered are biofuels and hydrogen propulsion systems. Each has problems of its own.
How fast is a single seater?
Although a tiny single-seater, it is designed to reach speeds of nearly 500kmph and cover a range of more than 320km. Like many in the industry, Armesmith says that the biggest developments may come when aircraft bodies themselves are redesigned to distribute more engines than usual across a plane.
How many passengers can the eCaravan seat?
The eCaravan could be adapted to seat a grand total of nine passengers, but on its test flight it had just one seat for the pilot (Credit: MagniX) Put like that, it might seem like electric planes stand little hope of catching up.
How many passengers can a Cessna 208B take?
Well, it was a modified Cessna Caravan 208B – which can take a maximum of nine passengers. And the test aircraft only had a seat installed for the pilot. It’s a far cry from the 200-300-seater jet that takes you on weekend city breaks or work trips, never mind the huge double-decker planes that cross continents.
Why do electrical components require additional insulation?
Electrical components require additional insulation to ensure they wouldn’t catch fire, for example, Armesmith says. And at high altitudes, high voltages take a greater toll on that insulation so it needs to be very robust to be flight-worthy. This meant she and her team had to design brand new cables and switchboards. “You kind of go, ‘Ah, actually, this is going to be a lot more challenging than we thought’,” she says.
Introduction
Energy Density
- The primary obstacle in designing electric commercial aircraft is energy density. Currently, the industry standards for jet aircraft is a hydrocarbon fuel is Jet-A. While there are a large variety of jet fuels, such as JP-8 and Jet A-1, all of them have only negligible differences in specific energies, and are therefore interchangeable for our purposes. Generally, these jet fuels have a specific en…
Case Study - The Boeing 737
- The most common commercial jet plane in the United States is the Boeing 737. More specifically, I will analyze a common variant of the 737, 737-400, a medium-sized, narrow-body aircraft used primarily for domestic flights (figures are rounded to the tens place). The 737-400 weighs 35,040 kg empty and has a maximum takeoff weight of 64,640 kg, leaving a useful load of 29,600 kg. A…
Further Considerations
- Another obstacle for electrically-powered planes to surmount however, would be the lack of weight reduction due to inflight fuel burn. As a jet cruises, it burns fuel and therefore lightens its weight. This not only improves performance, but also relied upon in designing aircraft and airports. It follows that while a 737 has a maximum takeoff weigh...
Conclusion
- While the success of electric cars may prompt some to think that electric aircraft are just around the corner, a closer look reveals significant problems. While some problems may be engineered-around max landing weights may be able to be increased by fortifying runways or redesigning landing gears the problem of energy storage is more fundamental: not even the upper theoretica…
References
- "Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, 1990 - 2018," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-20-002, 2020. J. I. Hileman, R. W. Stratton, and P. E. Donohoo, "Energy Content and Alternative Jet Fuel Viability," J. Propuls. Power 26, 1184 (2012). A. Bills et al., "Performance Metrics Required of Next-Generation Batteries to Electrify Commercial Aircraft," A…