81–90 of 223 posts
This means much less efficient flight, because lift costs energy, or much slower flight. But it's more plausible for these very short flights than for longer flights.
Solar-powered synfuel seems like a more likely mass alternative for the near future (02030-02050).
Wendover Productions (who else?!) recently released a video[1] on the future of electric planes. Quite a lot of information in there! [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH4b3sAs-l8
LNA, an aviation industry newsletter, recently came to a very different conclusion [1]. The biggest difference to Wendover Productions's numbers is a hugely higher estimate in the cost of replacing the battery every 5-10 years due to battery degradation. [1] https://leehamnews.com/2021/07/01/the-true-cost-of-electric-...
You can also imagine that planes will start operating longer routes and then move to shorter routes as the battery degrades. Since the batteries are large they could get a decent amount of money for them when they’re too degraded for airplanes. They should still be useful for energy storage.
I also think it’s likely that when airplanes go mainstream, they’ll use a different chemistry than the standard Li-ion chemistries we have today. Maybe solid state lithium (Quantumscape?) or sodium ion. So it’s very hard to say how big the degradation problem will actually be.
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Large train stations are far more common than large airports in Europe, so you got this the wrong way around.
How many of these train stations have been built after 1950? And what defines "large" in both cases?
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Won't batteries be a problem now?
Probably even worse, as fuel can be dumped.
Or alternatively, if a plane develops a leak in one of the tanks, it can dump fuel to balance the weight.
Is there a scenario where a plane in flight has its fuel on fire and dumping said fuel helps in any way?
Wendover Productions (who else?!) recently released a video[1] on the future of electric planes. Quite a lot of information in there! [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH4b3sAs-l8
LNA, an aviation industry newsletter, recently came to a very different conclusion [1]. The biggest difference to Wendover Productions's numbers is a hugely higher estimate in the cost of replacing the battery every 5-10 years due to battery degradation. [1] https://leehamnews.com/2021/07/01/the-true-cost-of-electric-...
The battery model will weigh at least twice that for the same useful work, so how the hell does it fly as far? Could it actually fly the mandated 100 nm + 30 min contigency*
Interesting that the routes they name are 119 and 78 miles. Kinda surprised Americans have flights so short. But then again the aircraft might beat CAFE for a vehicle with a single driver in it, plus aircraft usually carry a load of cargo too, as the passengers pay for the plane to go somewhere and the cargo is the profit. Wonder how much cargo this elegy plane can carry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_economy_in…
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How long is the flight in comparison? And have you factored in the airport time into that? I was looking at taking the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam, and a friend was dismissing it as it took 4 hours where as the flight is ~45 mins. Except its not, the flight its self maybe 45 mins, but you have to get to heathrow (which is further away than St Pancreas) plus get there an hour early. Then we would have to deal wi…
It also depends on train stations being accidentally close to where you depart/arrive. Most people don't live closer to a large train station then to an airport, I'd think.
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It also depends on train stations being accidentally close to where you depart/arrive. Most people don't live closer to a large train station then to an airport, I'd think.
Large train stations are far more common than large airports in Europe, so you got this the wrong way around.
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Still has a ways to go. The eBeaver range is dramatically less.
You've got to start somewhere, right? Kudos to the developers of this.