Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft • Hacker News Board

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#71

Post by toast0 » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #54

robin_reala wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Last August the total cost to charge my car for the month was -10SEK of about -$1.05 US, as my energy company was trying to put load into its batteries at the times when the grid most needed it.

>my energy company was trying to put load into its batteries at the times when the grid most needed it. I'm not sure I understood this sentence?

Grid had too much production and needed somewhere to put it, so they paid the GP to put the energy into GP's car.

On an electric grid, Supply and Demand must meet. When demand is low, you either reduce supply or increase demand and sometimes it's easier to increase demand.

Also, if you're supplying electricity, you may have reason to supply it even when the wholesale cost is negative. If you have production incentives not included in the wholesale price, you can be profitable at negative wholesale prices. (Things like green incentives, or base load incentives, or long term supply price guarantees)

If significantly reducing your output takes time or causes operational difficulties, it may be sensible to deliver at negative prices as you taper off. If you have a fuel shipment inbound and nowhere to store it, the negative wholesale price may be less expensive than cost to deal with the storage logistics.

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#72

Post by SoftTalker » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #64

SoftTalker wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't see megawatt-hours of energy in batteries as potentially dangerous?

I'd be stunned if they put a MWh of battery on a plane. This plane in particular only has a range of 120 miles electric-only, so it probably has a pack roughly similar to a modern electric pickup. 200 kWh plus or minus. By comparison, a regular regional jet probably has around 40 MWh of energy in jet fuel.

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Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#73

Post by SoftTalker » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:32 PM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #69

SoftTalker wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe from mainland to islands if there's enough range for the round-trip. Otherwise many islands are not going to have the electrical infrastructure to handle the charging demands.

I would not expect the charging demands to be that big a deal on a plane this small, at least. I would guess the battery is about the same size as a modern long range electric pickup. A garden variety 400 kW fast charger would probably be sufficient. Surely any island big enough for a proper airport could handle that.

I guess it depends. Some island airports aren't much more than a landing strip.

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#74

Post by TSiege » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:32 PM UTC

Does anyone know if there is a theoretical limit for how energy dense a battery could be?

I wonder if there is a possible future where some sort of commercial long haul flights could be done by a fully electric plane. I've never gotten a great answer on this, and maybe we don't have an answer for certain since battery chemistry is some sense is still early days

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#75

Post by dbuxton » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:34 PM UTC

27 mins endurance (?) for $5 of power. Not bad. I rent a 172 and have been paying a $5/h fuel surcharge for the past few months due war in Iran - but at UK avgas prices 27 mins in my plane would be $55ish. Haven’t looked into the details but kind of crazy impact on economics of aviation if this size plane (10x 172 MTOW) can actually do useful short haul

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#76

Post by ooterness » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #64

SoftTalker wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't see megawatt-hours of energy in batteries as potentially dangerous?

I'd be stunned if they put a MWh of battery on a plane. This plane in particular only has a range of 120 miles electric-only, so it probably has a pack roughly similar to a modern electric pickup. 200 kWh plus or minus. By comparison, a regular regional jet probably has around 40 MWh of energy in jet fuel.

Megawatt-hours (MWh) are one billion times larger than milliwatt-hours (mWh).

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#77

Post by tiahura » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:42 PM UTC

hermitcrab wrote: post #66

nradov wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best use case might be short flights over water or other geographic obstacles where driving routes might be much longer or impossible. Like Kahului Airport to Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport for example.

What happens when a large amount of these batteries get submerged in fresh or salt water?

They sink.

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#78

Post by ggreer » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:43 PM UTC

dagurp wrote: post #27

chha wrote: post #2

Also a short video on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEudbAjschs

You never get to hear what these planes sound like in these promo videos

Electric aircraft that use normal propellers are significantly quieter than their combustion counterparts. Here's a short video of some takeoffs and landings from both.[1]

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXm4TnaXDWc

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#79

Post by topkai22 » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:48 PM UTC

spongebobstoes wrote: post #18

could we relax the security around electric planes, because they don't carry as much highly explosive material? that could make it much more convenient and appealing as a travel method

Not due to them being electric. It's possible that being this small they could use FBO rules more like private jet/charter operators, but even then I doubt that would be the normal case. These seem to make the most sense as a last mile connector to regional airports, in which you'd want them inside the security boundary when making your connection.

It would really suck to have to go through security after your first flight whenever you are connecting.

Re: Heart aerospace completes first flight of largest electric aircraft

#80

Post by danans » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 4:49 PM UTC

> Powered entirely by batteries, X1 used approximately $5 worth of electricity during its first flight

It's fun to look at the arithmetic behind this to pull out the assumptions. To lift a 25000 lb mass 1100 ft in the air requires just over 10kWh, but that's assuming no air resistance or friction, so let's triple the energy needed to 30 KWh.

Let's add another 10 kWh for forward distance covered (assuming it was mostly gliding). Then let's pad it up to 50kWh for anything else. If they say that was $5 in electricity that implies an electricity price of $0.10/kWh, which is possible with utility scale solar.

I'd guess the actual flight time was only 10 of the 27 minutes, 30 kWh used over 10 minutes is 300kW of peak power.

300kW seems very low compared to equivalent jet powered planes, which output an order of magnitude more power for a 30 seater plane. Even if the electric drivetrain is far more efficient than a jet engine it stretches credulity.

Which of my numbers is off?