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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you believe that?
Specific to the electric plane, you remove some of the battery weight, as that energy would then come from the catapult. But, as a general thing? I don't see it happening. There's a TON of complexity in a catapult system. Plus, the amount of spilled champagne in first class is going to ruin a lot of suits and blouses. Can't have that. ;)
But it's all on the ground.
At 120 miles of useful pure electric range, I can't imagine there are many US corridors where that pure electric range makes sense. That's still a range where the door to door time of a car can still win. I wonder why they don't push the idea of it being a hybrid more, as it seems to me a lot of useful routes are going to rely on the generators. I'd love to see something that can do around 250mi. It would be nice to…
They want to push the 'all electric range' angle, but the people who buy it know what it can do.
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Specific to the electric plane, you remove some of the battery weight, as that energy would then come from the catapult. But, as a general thing? I don't see it happening. There's a TON of complexity in a catapult system. Plus, the amount of spilled champagne in first class is going to ruin a lot of suits and blouses. Can't have that. ;)
> There's a TON of complexity in a catapult system. But it's all on the ground.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
IF they end up the size of modern jets, 1MWh is underestimating the need for even an average domestic flight.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
IF they end up the size of modern jets, 1MWh is underestimating the need for even an average domestic flight.
Agreed, a full size electric airliner is going to be a different beast entirely. On the bright side, by the time we crack that nut I hope we will be using battery technology with less combustion potential than even LFP.
GOOD POINT by my wife. Is there a super high density battery they could use just to have available to count for reserves even if it’s one time use. Just plan never to use it in normal flight.
No. The closest I can think is to have a solid rocket booster and that has obvious risks as well.