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Australia's first electric aircraft has begun test flights

abc.net.au

11–20 of 79 posts

Re: Australia's first electric aircraft has begun test flights

#11
post #6
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additionally I'm not sure I would call a 2 seater, a "passenger plane".

Then what would you call the person in the second seat, who isn't flying the plane?

>Then what would you call the person in the second seat, who isn't flying the plane?

Instructor. These are designed pretty much exclusively as LSA trainers.

Re: Australia's first electric aircraft has begun test flights

#13
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then what would you call the person in the second seat, who isn't flying the plane?

>Then what would you call the person in the second seat, who isn't flying the plane? Instructor. These are designed pretty much exclusively as LSA trainers.

Touring motor gliders are often sold to couples that want to travel together. I've known people who own/fly: Dimona H36 and Taifun 17E. I have a family member who recently purchased a TL Sting S4 (a microlight) for similar purposes.

Re: Australia's first electric aircraft has begun test flights

#14
post #4

I wonder if there'd be an increase or loss of carbon footprint compared to gas, when most of electricity produced in Australia is from coal?

Coal power plants are roughly as efficient as an internal combustion engine (around 40%) and considering the power transmission losses, charging losses, electric engine inefficiencies and so on, any electric vehicle has worse overall efficiency than the equivalent gas vehicle. Electric vehicles only make sense from a pollution reduction point of view if the power is generated from renewable sources.

Re: Australia's first electric aircraft has begun test flights

#17
post #4

I wonder if there'd be an increase or loss of carbon footprint compared to gas, when most of electricity produced in Australia is from coal?

Coal power plants are roughly as efficient as an internal combustion engine (around 40%) and considering the power transmission losses, charging losses, electric engine inefficiencies and so on, any electric vehicle has worse overall efficiency than the equivalent gas vehicle. Electric vehicles only make sense from a pollution reduction point of view if the power is generated from renewable sources.

Second this. This is a common misconception a lot of consumers do not know.

Re: Australia's first electric aircraft has begun test flights

#19

"Australia's first electric passenger plane takes to the skies" Well, one passenger, more like a sports plane than an airliner. Still very awesome :D

Very cool, right? I had a brain fart when I read the title on the front page thinking it was a self-driving electric plane, for some odd reason, and my heart skipped a beat.

>It costs about $3 an hour to run the plane's engine, one-tenth the cost of a fuel engine.

This sounds really great and at only €65,000 ($78196.30USD) it sounds like a steal that will scale nicely once it can carry the 5+ passengers it intends to. Someone in the comments mentioned it also sounds like a great idea because there will be many less moving parts. The plane also switches to more of a glider-mode once I imagine it's at altitude. A silent ride sounds kind of peaceful when I think of the drone of a normal plane.

Re: Australia's first electric aircraft has begun test flights

#20
post #4

I wonder if there'd be an increase or loss of carbon footprint compared to gas, when most of electricity produced in Australia is from coal?

Coal power plants are roughly as efficient as an internal combustion engine (around 40%) and considering the power transmission losses, charging losses, electric engine inefficiencies and so on, any electric vehicle has worse overall efficiency than the equivalent gas vehicle. Electric vehicles only make sense from a pollution reduction point of view if the power is generated from renewable sources.

You would find it very hard, if not impossible, to run an ICE car at 40% efficient for normal driving. The same can not be said for a coal plant. So if the coal plant averages 35% and the ICE car averages 25%, that leaves some room for a coal-driven electric car to be more efficient. The conversion from grid power to mechanical power only needs to be over 70% efficient. If anything, that sounds easy to beat. Any counters?
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