Battery-powered electric plane successfully completes first flight

We already knew that battery-powered and electric planes were in works. Recently, an electric aircraft has successful completed its first flight in Australia.

Electric cars and trucks are old news now, as the future is moving towards larger electric vehicles (EV) such as airplanes. Aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel manufactured a single-engine, two-seater electric airplane named ‘Pipistrel Alpha Electro’. The test flight was conducted in Perth.

The electric plane runs on two lithium-ion batteries, similar to those used in Tesla’s EV. The batteries help function the plane for an hour along with 30 minutes of extra power in reserve. As for their entire lifetime, the batteries can provide almost 1,000 total flying hours for the plane. The plane can be fully charged within an hour with the help of a supercharger, reported Futurism.

An electric passenger plane in works

The company is working with a local startup Electro.Aero to bring the electric planes for normal use. Being safer and easier to fly, founder of Electro.Aero expressed, “Electric propulsion is a lot simpler than a petrol engine. Inside a petrol engine you have hundreds of moving parts.”

Furthermore, the plane is also cheaper than the conventional ones. The engine of the EV costs around AUD 3 an hour – one tenth the cost of a fuel engine. It requires 60kW of power to take off and only 20kW to cruise; it does that all without creating any noise.

Pilot Robert Bodley said, “It’s more comfortable. The vibration is less, the heating is less, it’s a more stable aircraft as well.”

By mid-January, local pilots will be start to train for flying the electric plan, and registered pilots will be needed to complete a familiarization flight before flying it independently. ABC News reported that the company plans to build charging stations for electric panels to the solar array. Also, in future, electric air-taxis will also be seen in skies carrying up to five people.