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London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

bbc.co.uk

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Re: London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

#11

Post by ptaipale »

TL;DR: If I read things right, the BBC article is highly misleading and the plane still uses jet fuel.

Longer version:

The article mentions "removing the need for jet fuel" but does not explain how the engines of this "electric" plane work. Propellers run by electric motors, or what?

No. Wright Electric's own site is scant on technical details and concentrates on praising the great team in its blog. From browsing other sites [0] it appears that the engines are still using conventional jet fuel to generate the thrust; it's just that the external systems (pressurization, de-icing, landing gear mechanics, fuel pumps etc) that are powered by electricity are using battery power instead of generator in the current jet engines.

This may be a step ahead in energy efficiency but is not that revolutionary, and calling it "electric flight" is simply wrong.

I hope I misunderstood, but Wright Electric really should tell how their electric plane is supposed to work if it is really electric.

https://electrek.co/2017/03/22/electric-plane-startup-150-se...

Re: London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

#12

Post by Retric »

macspoofing wrote: post #4

>A new start-up says that it intends to offer an electric-powered commercial flight from London to Paris in 10 years. There is no way a startup without any experience in aviation will design, build, certify and sell a commercial 150-seat airplane in 10 years. Not even mention the immense R&D groundwork required to even prove the concept of using batteries to power short haul flights. Why do they put out bullshit like…

Retrofitting an existing jet seems like a vastly more viable option in 10 years. But, with sufficient funding it's possible to start from scratch and get there in 10 years.

Re: London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

#13

Post by amelius »

macspoofing wrote: post #4

>A new start-up says that it intends to offer an electric-powered commercial flight from London to Paris in 10 years. There is no way a startup without any experience in aviation will design, build, certify and sell a commercial 150-seat airplane in 10 years. Not even mention the immense R&D groundwork required to even prove the concept of using batteries to power short haul flights. Why do they put out bullshit like…

My guess is that they are trying to create a hype around it to attract investors and make the success a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Even if they fail to produce a working electric airplane, they will make a lot of money in the process.

Re: London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

#14

Post by wiz21c »

koolba wrote: post #7
macspoofing wrote: post #4

>A new start-up says that it intends to offer an electric-powered commercial flight from London to Paris in 10 years. There is no way a startup without any experience in aviation will design, build, certify and sell a commercial 150-seat airplane in 10 years. Not even mention the immense R&D groundwork required to even prove the concept of using batteries to power short haul flights. Why do they put out bullshit like…

Normally I'd agree with you but seeing that SpaceX was able to go from zero to sending stuff into orbit in a decade, building a plane in that same time period doesn't seem totally unreasonable. I'd be more concerned with the realities of battery technology not being ready and existing regulations/testing stretching the timetable v.s. pure technical ability of a team to design something that would be fit for purpose.

SpaceX has re-done something that was already done. It's no small feat, but the proof of concept existed years ago.

An electric plane with 100+ person on board has no POC so far...

Re: London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

#15

Post by ptaipale »

koolba wrote: post #7
macspoofing wrote: post #4

>A new start-up says that it intends to offer an electric-powered commercial flight from London to Paris in 10 years. There is no way a startup without any experience in aviation will design, build, certify and sell a commercial 150-seat airplane in 10 years. Not even mention the immense R&D groundwork required to even prove the concept of using batteries to power short haul flights. Why do they put out bullshit like…

Normally I'd agree with you but seeing that SpaceX was able to go from zero to sending stuff into orbit in a decade, building a plane in that same time period doesn't seem totally unreasonable. I'd be more concerned with the realities of battery technology not being ready and existing regulations/testing stretching the timetable v.s. pure technical ability of a team to design something that would be fit for purpose.

Building a space craft quickly is in fact more realistic because you're not operating in the conventional flight market which has extremely high requirements and heavy regulation for safety.

If a space rocket blows up, including passengers, it's okay, part of the business - everyone knows space flight is high risk. If a commercial flight crashes, that is simply not acceptable.

Re: London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

#16

Post by jhbadger »

wiz21c wrote: post #14
koolba wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally I'd agree with you but seeing that SpaceX was able to go from zero to sending stuff into orbit in a decade, building a plane in that same time period doesn't seem totally unreasonable. I'd be more concerned with the realities of battery technology not being ready and existing regulations/testing stretching the timetable v.s. pure technical ability of a team to design something that would be fit for purpose.

SpaceX has re-done something that was already done. It's no small feat, but the proof of concept existed years ago. An electric plane with 100+ person on board has no POC so far...

Also, SpaceX is fine with having their vehicles occasionally explode. Which is considered par for the course in spaceflight circles, but not so much in jet travel.

Re: London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

#17

Post by CalRobert »

They picked the one city pair already served well by rail??? One where there will be substantial time lost to immigration queues anyway, thus reducing the relative benefit of high speed travel?

SF-LA, London-Dublin, etc would have made a lot more sense.

Re: London-Paris electric flight 'in decade'

#19

Post by koolba »

jhbadger wrote: post #16
wiz21c wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SpaceX has re-done something that was already done. It's no small feat, but the proof of concept existed years ago. An electric plane with 100+ person on board has no POC so far...

Also, SpaceX is fine with having their vehicles occasionally explode. Which is considered par for the course in spaceflight circles, but not so much in jet travel.

Well they're a startup in the traditional sense as rockets tend to "move fast and break things".
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