So, is flying from New York to Tokyo with electric airplane coming soon? Probably not in the next ten years, maybe more. But flying an electric ultralight aircraft seems more realistic. Here we'll see what's the current state of this affair and how soon you may fly your electric gyrocopter.
But first, why would you want that?
Advantages of Electric Ultralight Aircraft
If you have followed the development of electric cars, which are getting fairly popular, you already know most of the advantages:
- Reduced motor complexity. Electric engines are simpler as there are no gears. There are less things to break inside.
- No fuel. So there is nothing to explode in case of crash.
- Lower operational costs because of the electricity vs. fuel price, and the lower maintenance.
- Environment friendly. People always argue about this but the fact is that not all energy comes from coal plants. And the CPA of the electric motor is much better. So pollution is less.
So indeed, there are plenty of reasons to want an electric ultralight aircraft or helicopter.
Then of course, there are many problems, and most are well known:
The Problems
- Battery weight is a lot more a problem for electric aircraft than it is a problem for electric cars. Just think about it - the airplane has to lift its weight in the air so it needs more power for each pound of extra weight. But for storing more power you need heavier batteries. This is the catch 22 in electric aircraft that has stopped their development for long time.
- Short time in the air. Due to this catch 22 airplane batteries can store energy for short flights only - typically for 30 to 60 minutes flight. This of course makes them inappropriate for many tasks.
- Battery price is quite high. The batteries of an electric light sport aircraft can cost about $20,000 alone and are good for maximum 2,000 - 3,000 flights.
So that's what is stopping them from real invasion. Things seem to improve recently though. Aircraft like the ESpyder manage the power very well although it still doesn't cross the 1 hour flight. The batteries and power usage slowly improves with the time.
As we still can't reach a big breakthrough in electricity storage many companies are looking towards building solar airplanes or at least combining solar with stored power. There is a project called Solar Impulse taking the challenge to go around the world on solar power. A collection of more practical solar airplanes is available here on Wikipedia.
So while I don't see commercial airlines on electric or solar power anytime soon, it seems that such aircraft can be used for other purposes.
Possible Uses of Current Electric and Solar Powered Aircraft
I'm sure you already think about this: these airplanes aren't good for cross-country flights, but why not have one yourself? For a recreational flight you don't need more than an hour, and the low operational costs are really tempting. Electric ultralight airplanes seem to have great future for personal use and sometimes for agricultural operations.
There is one more place where such aircraft has good future - the aircraft schools. While they can't be used for the full educational cycle because of the specifics, the candidates can certainly have some flying hours on electric plane. The low "fuel" costs can lower the entire cost of the pilot training.
Electric planes can also be used by clubs who offer recreational flights to their clients.
So, What's On The Table Now?
In case your are interested in owning electric airplane, here are some of your options at this time:
- Electravia ElectroLight 2 - a French ultralight, 195kg weight that can fly an hour and half.
- Taurus Electro by Pipstel. It doesn't seem to fly long but looks good.
- Electra by PC-Aero which is available in solar and purely battery powered versions.
- Arcus E which is the first two-seat serial produced electric glider in the world.
- Icaro 2000 which is an ultralight trike and can fly up to one hour with a single charge.
- ElectraFlyer aircraft offer flex-wing and fixed-wing airplanes.
Of course we expect more to appear.
Building yourself is still not popular with electric airplanes because the good models are very new and most old models aren't good enough to justify doing it. But we can expect flying enthusiasts will start adapting homebuilt aircraft for electric motors pretty soon.
The future feels bight but I am not holding my breath for a revolution yet. It's a good idea to look at what's currently in the market and see if it will do the work for you. For personal flying electric airplanes seem really good option if you can swallow the upfront costs.
Sources / More Info
Here are some good places we used and where you can read more:
- Electric aircraft on Wikipedia where you can learn about history and all models.
- Electric Airplanes, Coming to a Flight School Near You - a good essay exploring the opportunities for flight schools.
- Aircraft Electrical Power Generation and Distribution including a graphic.